


I Can See The Truth, Now That I Found You

by xanderwho



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bottom Louis, Christmas Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, M/M, Smut, Top Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-08
Packaged: 2018-03-05 05:12:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 34,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3107435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanderwho/pseuds/xanderwho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Harry first saw Louis, Harry was a 24 year old happily married man with a 1 year old son, and Louis was a young, energetic 18 year old who might have fancied the dad he saw at work.</p><p>Three years later, Harry may not have been a happily married man, but Louis definitely fancied the dad he saw at work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Can See The Truth, Now That I Found You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pinkchampagne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkchampagne/gifts).



> Hiii! This is my first ever fic, and I tried to stay close to the prompt, but I added my own spin on it. I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> The title is from the Britney Spears song, Now That I Found You.
> 
> Prompt: Louis is an elf at the local mall helping santa with the kids, and Harry brings his son almost every day to meet Santa (only to see Louis) and his 4 year old son realizes Santa looks different each time and starts to not believe in Santa but to help his Christmas spirit Louis personally delivers his son's gift on Christmas morning to prove 'santa is real' but then harry and louis fuck. thx.

**December 24 2011**

_Harry_

 

When Harry first laid his eyes on the energetic Elf at Santa's Grotto, he simply couldn't help but smile at the young lad.

He'd been to so many of these cheesy and over the top Santa's Grotto's in shopping the local shopping centre quite a few times before over the last few years. When Gemma's daughter, Serena, turned five, she wouldn't tell her mum what she wanted for Christmas, because "Santa just  _knows_ , mum. He  _knows_ ". So, enter Uncle Harry, who took Serena to see Santa so he could feedback to Gem what she wanted for Christmas. It was Harry's idea, and Gemma was certain that it was because Harry just wanted to go and see Santa, himself.

She was right.

But this year, it was different. Harry was going to visit Santa for the first time with his wife, Taylor, and his very own baby boy, Charlie. Gemma had even come along to see Charlie's first encounter with Santa, and Serena was there, too (although "Santa just isn't real, mum, I'm not a child anymore" the nine year old argued). Charlie was beginning to have an understanding of Christmas, now. Well, he didn't really understand what was going on, because he was only one year old, but that wasn't the point. Brightly coloured costumes and flashing lights just excited him, and that was then Taylor first realised that Charlie was definitely going to be a daddy's boy.

When they were stood in the queue, Harry spotted the first Elf of the day. He was a good looking lad, for sure. Feathery brown hair just floating out from under the green hat he was wearing, sharp cheekbones and bright blue eyes. Not to mention the caramel skin, which Harry chuckled at, because he was unsure how many opportunities an Elf would get for suntanning in the North Pole.

 _What? Shut up, Haz, he's obviously not a real Elf._ Sometimes he does get carried away with himself. But, this guy. He looked young, he looked fresh, he was so full of life, so happy to be talking and entertaining the excited little kids as they knew that they were next to see Santa.

"What are you staring at?", Taylor asked with a little smirk on her face.

"I wasn't staring, I was, just... He's new." Harry replied.

"What?"

"The Elf. He's a new Elf." Harry offered, and Taylor stood on her tip toes to get a better view of the Elf outside the Grotto, just in time to see him escort a family of four inside.

"Right, okay. You come here way too often, you know what, babe?" Taylor chuckled, and Harry responded by just simply pulling his wife into an embrace, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

 

By the time Harry, Taylor and Gemma were at the front of the queue, Charlie was fast asleep in his push chair, and Serena was far too invested in a game of Angry Birds on her mum's phone. Harry, however, had a beaming smile on his face. He really did love Christmas. He just couldn't help himself. And knowing that there is this new, fresh, Elf who appeared to share his joy for the holiday - or, well, at least the pay check he would get for his hard work - just made him even more excited.

However, once New Elf had lead the family through the other side of the Grotto and had returned to the front, he was approached by a blonde Elf that Harry recognised. It was Greg's little brother - Niall, Harry was sure his name was.

"Sorry, boys and girls," Niall Elf announced to the people in the line. "It's time for happy helper Louis to go back to the workshop and help make more toys! But don't worry, I'm here! And I'm gonna let you all in on a little secret..." he continued, crouching down to make eye contact with Serena and the few younger children in line behind her and her family. "I'm Santa's favourite."

A few of them giggled - including Serena, which was the first time she had shown any interest in today's events (Gemma had grinned when she saw the exchange, giving Harry a little nudge. Serena was maybe developing her first crush) - as Niall stood up tall.

"He's not Santa's favourite,  _I'm_ Santa's favourite." Louis Elf announced, placing his hands on his hips and sticking his chest out, looking as smug as ever. Harry just knew that this kid must be a right laugh.

It was then that Niall had glanced over to Harry, realising just who it was.

"Haz! Mate, how are ya?" He asked, excitedly, taking a step forward to Harry and his family, Louis stood close behind.

"Yeah, I'm great, thanks, man, how are you? How's the family? Greg?" Harry responded.

"Good, yeah. They're all good! Actua-" Niall started, and Harry decided to pretend that he never noticed Louis give Niall a little nudge. Niall looked over his shoulder to Louis, and Harry definitely caught the eye roll. He turned to look back to Harry. "Oh, yeah, Harry, this is my best mate, Louis. Lou, this is Harry. And that's his wife, Taylor. And that's their son, Charlie." Niall added on. And Harry, once again, pretended that he didn't notice the change in tone to Niall's voice when he introduced his wife and son. "And then there's Gemma, and this little cutie here is Serena, but she probably doesn't remember me."

And Serena giggled, taking a step a little bit closer to Gemma, shyly shaking her head to say 'no'. Yeah, she was definitely crushing on Niall. Harry couldn't help but let out his own laughter.

"Right, well, uh, it was nice to meet you. I'm gonna... head off. Crack the whip with the Elves at the workshop, and all." Louis grinned, nodding his head.

"And by that, he means to get ready for the eighteenth birthday celebrations tonight." Niall chirped in, quiet enough that only Harry and Louis could hear.

"You could not be more right. And I expect to see you at mine when you finish here, Horan." Louis said.

"Are all of Santa's Elves born on Christmas Eve?" Serena asked, looking completely invested in the conversation, which Harry assumed is simply because of Niall.

"Just the special Elves, like myself." Louis grinned.

"Well, happy birthday, mate. Have a good 'un, yeah?" Harry said, to which Louis smiled. Harry quite liked it when Louis smiled, he decided. His whole face lit up with it, and Harry didn't think he'd ever seen a smile so bright in his whole entire life.

"Thanks, Harry." Louis nodded, smiling so widely that he started to show a few crinkles around his eyes.

And they stayed smiling at each other for a few seconds, until Niall cleared his throat, causing the moment to end. Louis looked back to Niall, who was smirking. And Harry just found it weird. Niall was always a little weird when he was younger, and that obviously hadn't changed much in the time that Greg and Harry stopped hanging out as Greg moved back to Ireland. Harry looked down to the push chair in front of Taylor, and Charlie had began to stir, and just in time, Harry thought.

Niall and Louis exchanged a quick goodbye with each other, before Niall began to escort Harry's family into the Grotto, Charlie now with a big grin on his face because of the fairy lights and fake snow surrounding the place. And if Harry glanced over his shoulder just in time to catch Louis quickly turning his back and walking away, he didn't tell anyone.

 

**December 24 2012**

_Louis_

 

The past year had been a bit of a whirlwind for Louis. After his eighteenth birthday last year, he'd come out to his family. Not intentionally, it was more of an 'accidentally got with a guy who looked like a fish at the pub whilst intoxicated' outing. He had an incline that his family already knew, because he never really kept it a secret. He never hid his love for JLS, and his soft spot for  _Mamma Mia!_  was perhaps the biggest give-away. His family were all okay with it, though, which was a good thing.

But other than accidentally outing himself, which lead to a world of drama from Lottie who thought she would have to compete with her brother to have the hottest boyfriend, he also finished college and started university, a Performing Arts course, obviously. He'd loved the first couple of months - pulling guys at clubs in the centre of London, where nobody really batted an eyelash at it, performing small sketches and putting on shows pretty much every other week in his class, and better yet, sharing a dorm with Niall, and Liam - a really attractive guy from Wolverhampton, whom both he and Niall get on really well with (but that leads to the worst part of things - Liam is straight, so there was absolutely no chance of him getting fucked into the mattress by him, which was a shame, really).

Louis was back at his home in the outskirts of London for the Christmas holiday, and as his boss had promised him last year, he got to keep his job as an Elf at the shopping centre. He loved interacting with the children, and even such a small performance as pretending to be an Elf was still a great way for Louis to practice his skills and entertain people, and that was what he loved doing the most.

Niall was working with him, today. Usually, they'd work opposite shifts, but their boss noticed the chemistry between them in the few minutes overlap, and loved the banter they shared, so he decided to put them both on for the day, to keep everyone entertained as they were waiting to see Santa.

It was nearing the end of his shift when the crowd in the shopping centre began to dwindle down, many people now finished with the last minute Christmas shopping. There was only a few more people in the line, and the queue had been closed off so that no one else could come in. It was around four in the afternoon, anyway, so Santa and his Elves had their own homes to be going to, surely people must have understood that.

Niall lead a family of four into the grotto - husband, wife and twin daughters, who were no older than six and had matching headbands on. Louis wanted to melt when he saw them.

"How cute were those girls?" Louis asked.

"Not as cute as their mum, damn. She was smokin'!" Niall retaliated, to which Louis rolled his eyes.

"And  _married,_  might I point out."

"Yeah, but when has that ever stopped you before?" Niall said with a smirk, to which Louis had to try and hold back his grin to.

"That was one time, and he had taken his ring off. How was I supposed to know?" Louis whisper-shouted, doing his best to keep this conversation a secret to the couple remaining in the line.

"Didn't stop you from sucking him off after you found out, though, did it?" Niall raised his eyebrow, a grin on his lips.

"After the amount of drinks he bought me, it would have been rude not to, my dear friend."

Niall rolled his eyes, laughing, but trying to not be too obnoxious in front of the remaining customers. That was, however, until he looked over to the customer and saw who it was.

"Will be back in a sec, yeah?" Niall said to Louis, before trotting off to the queue. Louis' eyes followed Niall, and he pretty much gasped when he saw who was in the line. It was only the hottest guy he had ever seen in his whole entire life - the same hot guy he met here last year, who wished him a happy birthday (which Louis may or may not have rushed home and fantasied in the shower about him wishing him a happy birthday whilst fucking him against the wall).

Louis decided it was best to stand back and watch as Niall hugged Harry, and then crouched down to chat with Harry's son, Charlie. Louis made sure he remembered that. It was a known fact, Niall had told him, that women love it when a man shows an interest in their kids, so Louis figured it must be a thing for men, too - maybe, hopefully. One thing that Louis did notice, however, was that Harry's wife wasn't there. The tall, leggy blonde with the killer eyes. She was beautiful, he's not surprised that Charlie turned out to be such a cutie. Louis edged just a little bit closer, simply so he could overhear the conversation, and to check if Harry's voice was as deep and smooth as he remembered.

"How've you been, mate?" Niall had asked.

"Alright, yeah. Christmas shopping is just chaotic, though. Especially when I'm with this little monster." Harry laughed, tickling Charlie, and Niall laughed.

"How come Taylor isn't with you?" he asked, and Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"Called into work. On Christmas Eve, so she's had to fly out to Paris and won't be back until midnight. Yeah, I know. It sucks. She's working a lot, lately. But, you know, the money helps, I guess. It'll all be worth it in the long run, I suppose." Harry shrugged, but Louis couldn't help but notice the hurt in his eyes. He might have only spoke to him once, and as brief as it may have been, he felt like he knew Harry. Like he had some kind of connection to him. But he figured that it was probably something to do with Harry's friendly persona.

Niall and Harry continued to speak for a little bit longer, when Louis noticed Harry look over Niall's shoulder and towards him. He thought it was the best moment to go over and re-introduce himself to the beautiful man with the beautiful hair and the beautiful lips. He was beautiful.

"Hi! It's Harry, right?" Louis said, a huge smile spread across his face. "I'm L-"

"Louis, hi!" Harry interrupted, a smile so big that it outshone the one on Louis' face, and Louis was sure it was the best smile he had ever sen in his life.

"You remembered?" Louis was genuinely surprised that Harry remembered his name - it had been exactly a year since they first met, and that was only for a few minutes.

"Of course I remembered you, you made quite the impression on my little man." Harry said, and Louis' cheeks turned bright red, flustered.

"I did?" He barely managed to get out, his mouth suddenly dry.

"Yeah! Charlie has spent, like, the entire month wanting to meet  _Santa's favourite elf_ again. He keeps looking at the photo we took last year. I think you've found your biggest fan." Harry chuckled, looking down to his son. And, oh, right, yeah. So  _that's_ what he meant when he said he made an impression on his little man. Not... oh. Slightly disappointing, but whatever.

"Oh, well, uh..." Louis began, at a complete loss for words, figuring that the best thing to do right now was to focus on the child, because with him having four little sisters, he was good when it came to talking to children. He crouched down to look to Charlie, who had a huge smile on his face. "Can I let you in on a little secret, Charlie?" He quickly nodded his head, holding onto Harry's hand just a little bit tighter than before, clearly excited. "You have to promise not to tell anyone, though, okay? Can you promise me that?"

"Okay..." Charlie mumbled out through a smile that never left his face.

"You're my favourite person in the whole wide world!" Louis had said in a whisper, and he was sure that if Charlie's smile got any wider, he'd end up breaking his face, somehow. "And that is why I'm going to make sure that Santa gives you all of the best presents!"

"I want a red bike!" Charlie said, pleasantly loud and enthusiastically. Louis looked up to Harry, who had a look of distress on his face.

"A red bike? Are you sure you don't want, I dunno, a green bike, sweetheart?" Harry said, looking down to his son.

"Nope! Red! Red's my favourite colour, daddy."

Harry let out a sigh, bringing a hand up and running it through the brown curls, brushing them out of his face. Louis stood up tall, looking to Harry.

"Yeah, daddy, he wants a red bike." Louis smirked, and he would put money that Harry blushed at Louis calling him 'daddy', even if it was in a mocking tone. That was, until, Louis felt a not-so-gentle nudge in his spine from Niall.

"Guess what, Charlie? It's your turn to see Santa!" Niall chirped in. Charlie looked delighted, and let go of Harry's hand to walk towards the door of the grotto with Niall, Harry and Louis following behind.

"So, I suppose it's too late to exchange the green bike for a red bike?" Louis whispered.

"Yep. Stores are closed. I'm screwed." Harry sighed. "It's his main present, as well. And I've gone and messed it up. He's going to be so disappointed tomorrow morning." Harry added, and continued walking into the grotto, behind Niall and Charlie.

Louis couldn't help but think that this was his fault. If he didn't try to get on Harry's good side through his son - which sounded even worse when he put it like that - then Harry wouldn't be in this situation. He believed that he was the one who had messed up, not Harry.

 

_Harry_

 

By the time that Harry and Charlie had finished seeing Santa, they'd walked out of the grotto and Louis wasn't there. Must have clocked off a little early, Harry had thought. And he was rather disappointed, because he could tell that Charlie was looking forward to seeing his favourite elf before he went home.

"Thanks Ni." Harry said, when Niall handed him the printed photo of Charlie sitting on Niall's knee. It cost an extra fiver, but it was worth it, since it was going to go in the photo album of Charlie's childhood that Harry had started, ready to give to him on his eighteenth birthday.

"It's alright, mate." Niall said, he seemed rather distracted, however, looking around the grotto.

"DADDY! LOOK!" Charlie had shouted, which instantly put Harry on high alert, looking down to his child, only to see the huge grin on his face. He looked in the direction that Charlie was gazing off into, and he saw Louis. On a bike.  _A green bike._

"You've got to be kiddin' me." Niall muttered, but Harry picked up on it. Louis pedaled over to Harry, Charlie and Niall, stopping on the bike right in front of them.

"Hi Charlie! Are you finished with Santa, already? That didn't take long!" Louis said to the child, and Charlie just looked to be in complete and utter awe. "What's up? Do you like my bike? It's green! My favourite colour!" Louis added on, the smile never falling from his face. Harry couldn't believe it - he knew what Louis was doing, and he just... he didn't even know how to react.

"Green's my favourite colour, too! I want a green bike!" Charlie said, but then the look of realisation settled on his face. "But I told Santa I wanted a red bike! But I want a green one!"

"Well, Charlie, my best bud, I'm sure Santa knows what you want. There's no need to panic." Louis calmed him, and it seemed to work. Harry still didn't even know how to react.

"How the hell did you manage to pull this off, Tommo?" Niall asked in a low voice, so that Charlie wouldn't hear.

"You have to know the right people, love." He winked, and Harry chuckled.

"And you, what, know the Halfords manager or something?" the Irish lad responded.

"Nope... I know the security guard. And I know that his daughter has had a crush on me since year ten, when we did that  _Grease_  performance."

"So, you... What?"

"Told him I'd stay far away from her if he let me borrow a bike." Louis once again winked, and Harry laughed a little bit louder.

"But you're gay, you wouldn't be going anywhere near her, anyway." Niall said, arching an eyebrow.

"Minor detail, he didn't need to know that. All he needed to know was that the bad boy wasn't going anywhere near his daughter." Louis said this with an air of confidence, like he was proud to be the 'bad boy'. Harry laughed a whole lot louder at that.

"A bad boy  _in green tights?_ " He questioned. Now it was Niall laughing even louder, and Louis blushing just a little bit. Charlie was still staring at Louis on the bike, thankfully, and he hadn't been listening in to the conversation. But he wasn't at that age, yet, anyway, to be overly nosy. That would come later, Harry was sure of it.

"Alright, love, I get the picture. Point is, I've just saved your arse and I reckon you owe me for it." Louis beamed.

Harry let out a small laugh, and Niall just rolled his eyes and began to talk before Harry got the chance. "Ignore him, mate. All part of the Elf service. So, I'll see you on New Years Eve, right? People are starting to come around at seven-ish."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be there. My mum's having Charlie for the night, since she thinks she's getting too old to celebrate the new year or whatever, so I'll definitely be there."

"Great! I'll see you then!" Louis added in, which caused Niall to furrow his brow. Harry pretended not to notice.

"Good, alright, then. Say bye, Charlie!" Harry said, looking to his son. Charlie just rushed forward to Louis and hugged his leg, since he was still perched on top of the bike.

"See you around, little man." Louis said, before Charlie took Harry's hand.

"And, thanks, Lou. I really do owe you for this. Big time." Harry said, giving him the most genuine smile he thinks he has ever given. And Louis seemed to appreciate it, because he did that smile that Harry remembered so clearly from before. With the eyes going crinkly and practically shutting. God, this boy was amazing. Harry had met him twice, and he knew from the fuzzy feeling in his stomach that Charlie had picked such a great guy to look up to. Harry knew, already, that Louis was going to make a man extremely happy, some day.

 

**December 30 2012**

_Louis_

 

"I still can't believe you invited yourself to the party, Lou." Niall said, shaking his head like he was annoyed, but Louis knew he wasn't mad at all. He loved spending time with his best friend, so it was all good.

"You love me being here, Ni, don't try to deny it." Louis replied as he put the tray of jelly shots into Niall's fridge.

"I love you being here when you're being a friend, not when you're using me in your sad attempt to pull a married man, mate."

Louis rolled his eyes, because, come on, there was no need for that. It wasn't a  _sad attempt,_ it was a not-yet-but-soon-to-be-successful attempt to pull a married man.  _Gosh!_

"Well, Niall, that's just the way I am, so if you don't like it, you should just leave."

"But it's my house." Niall said, flatly, an eyebrow arched high up on his forehead.

"Quite frankly, I don't care." Louis countered, as he pulled a chocolate bar out of Niall's fridge, kicking it shut as he unwrapped it. Niall just rolled his eyes, accepting defeat.

The two of them headed off up into Niall's room, where they spent the rest of the day. It might have been New Years Eve, but Louis' family had gone back to Doncaster to celebrate the New Year with their family, and - for some reason - they had trusted Louis to stay by himself. Yeah, Louis couldn't believe it, either. He might have been nineteen, now, but the last time he was left alone, he threw a party and posted the photos on Facebook, knowing that his mum would see it. But perhaps his mum believed that he had matured, ever since he started uni... but that probably wasn't it, because he was still the same lad who drew dicks on everything whenever he got his hand on a Sharpie. But Louis had wanted to stay home alone, and he got what he wanted. He always got what he wanted, one way or another. That was one of the perks of being the first child, and the only boy, of the family. Louis knew how to wrap girls around his little finger (if he was straight, he'd be the biggest player ever).

 

Harry arrived at Niall's party not long after eight - Louis knew, because he made sure that he didn't leave the seat in the living room that was angled just right so that he could see the front door. As soon as he saw Harry, he felt himself smile uncontrollably. But that smile did fade away when he saw Taylor follow him inside. Because even though he knew Harry was married, it didn't really sync in. It never clicked. But there they were, holding hands and smiling as they walked into the living room, straight past him, and to Niall's brother, Greg, stood on the other side of the room.

Louis was not that impressed. Twenty past eight was a good time to make a start on those jelly shots, right?

 

By a quarter to eleven, Louis was sat alone in Niall's bedroom. He had realised what a stupid idea this was, now. Why would he even think that he could pull a straight, married man? Why did that idea even enter his stupid head? He wished he'd have gone with his family, now, because he'd have been so much happier, there. He'd have been having fun, for starters. He loved Niall with all of his heart, and he loved Maura, too, because she was like a second mum to him, but when all of their family were around, it was difficult to be noticed. Have you ever been surrounded by drunk Irish people? Not even Louis, with his loud laugh and, if he does say so himself, his killer arse, isn't noticed. So, over the night, he relocated himself from the chair with the best view of the door to the kitchen where the alcohol was, and then finally to Niall's bed.

But he just wasn't enjoying himself, not one bit. He'd much rather be at home, in his own bed, eating Ben & Jerry's and watching Mean Girls or Pitch Perfect or whatever. Niall probably wouldn't have even notice he'd gone, Louis thought. He pushed himself up off of Niall's bed and walked to the door, but as he reached for the handle, someone else pushed the door open from the outside, causing the door to slam into Louis' face, the edge of it striking him across the eye.

"Oops!" The voice said from the other side, as Louis stumbled back and instinctively covered his hurt left eye. But Louis realised whose voice it was instantly. It was Harry. And this literally couldn't be any worse. Louis needed to play it cool.

"Hi!" Louis responded, instantly, trying his best to act calm and unfazed by the throbbing pain on his eye socket. But, obviously, because nothing ever went the way Louis wanted, he couldn't even keep this under control. "Fuck!  _Oww_!" Louis wailed out, realising just how much he was currently suffering.

"Shit! Sorry! I'm so sorry!" Harry had said, rushing over to Louis, holding onto his shoulders to try and steady him. "I'm so sorry, Lou, proper sorry, I really am! I didn't know you were there! I just opened the door and then, bang! You were there! I didn't know! Sorry!" Harry babbled on, leaning down, slightly, so he was level with Louis. Louis just let him ramble on, because he could listen to this man say anything.

"It's fine, just... a slight dull ache, no big deal. I play footie, I'm used to overreacting." Louis laughed, but it was humourless, because he was in agony.

"Sit, let me look at it, please. Need to make sure you're alright, mate." Harry said, pushing Louis down to the bed. Louis had a few fantasies of Harry shoving him down to the bed, but it was never under these circumstances. Harry crouched down in front of Louis. "Move your hand, let me see." Harry instructed, reaching up and slowly pulling Louis' hand away. Louis watched him through his one good eye, seeing Harry carefully examine Louis' face, eyes flickering between both of Louis' eyes. "It doesn't look swollen." Harry had commented. "Just a little red."

Louis shrugged. "See, told you. Overreacting. Just comes with the territory, really, dunnit? Performing Arts student, football player. All part of the gig, this acting shit."

Harry laughed, a low, deep laugh and Louis wished he could wake up to that laugh every morning. He stood up from his crouching position and sat down beside Louis on the bed, knees accidentally bumping into each others. Not that Louis noticed such a small detail like that. Nope. Not at all.

"How come you're up here, alone?" Harry had asked.

"Suppose I could ask you the same thing." Louis retaliated, smirking. Harry just let out a little chuckle.

"Greg said I have the same phone as Niall, wanted to borrow his charger.."

"Oh." Louis said.  _So you weren't looking for me?_ , he thought.

"Yeah. So, your turn."

Louis nodded his head a little. "Right, yeah. Um. Suppose I just... had a bit of a headache." Louis lied, because what was the alternative?  _I decided to hide because you didn't notice me_? Yeah, he'd got more self respect than that.

"And me abusing you with the door didn't help that, I guess." Harry smirked.

"No, actually, that was the highlight of my day. Maybe even the highlight of my year, if I'm honest, love."

Harry just stared at him for a few seconds, slowly narrowing his eyes. "Are you taking the mick out of me?"

Louis couldn't help but laugh. "Noooo, not at all."

"I think you are."

"Yeah, well spotted." Louis grinned. Harry just, once again, laughed.

"I didn't think you were here." Harry said. "Couldn't find you downstairs. Tay thought I was losing my mind, 'cause Niall is fucking wasted, he didn't even know who I was."

Louis tried to think of some joke about Niall always being wasted because he was Irish, but his mind was caught up on the fact that Harry couldn't find him. Which meant that Harry was looking for him. Which meant that Harry actually cared for him enough to look for him.

"And Tay thought that I was making you up, because she honestly couldn't believe that someone could be as nice as you - like what you did with the bike, for Charlie. Which, he loved by the way. He couldn't believe that he had a green bike, just like his favourite person in the whole wide world." Harry smiled. And that made Louis smile, obviously, because not only did he make Harry smile, but he could see just how much he loved his son.

"Well, I'm happy that I could help you. You still owe me big time, like, but that's okay, I understand that you're obviously coming up with something spectacular to make it up to me." Louis grinned, and Harry just nodded.

"Yeah, something like that, obviously." He said.

 

An hour passed by, and neither Louis or Harry has even realised. They had gone from sitting side by side on Niall's bed, to Harry leaning against the wall and Louis laying down, his legs draped over Harry's legs. They had been talking about a lot of things - from Louis' university course and what he wanted to be when he's older, to Harry working with babies in a private day nursery and how he wanted to take home every baby and child that he looks after (even the one little shit that pulled his hair for a six months), to how Harry, a child care practitioner, met Taylor, a fashion magazine editor, by bumping into her whilst they were shopping at Asda, literally knocking the both of them off of their feet (Louis asked if he meets all the people he loves by bumping into them, which had Harry laughing quite a lot. Louis liked making Harry laugh). They even exchanged numbers - well, sort of. Harry gave Louis his number and Louis promised to text him later, because he had a new phone for Christmas and he hadn't memorised the number yet. They hadn't stopped talking, at all, and the time flew by. Louis had fancied Harry from the moment he first saw him, but now he truly believed that he was in love with him. And it had only been an hour. But the way Harry would brush his curls out of his face, the way that he'd play with his fingers as he spoke, the way his face lit up every single time Charlie was mentioned - he just couldn't help but fall for him. He was fucked, he knew it.

 

It was five to twelve when Louis pointed out the time - a text from his mum, wishing him a Happy New Year just a little earlier, in case her text didn't send at midnight. Harry seemed panicked.

"Shit, didn't realise we'd been here for that long. Suppose we'd better head back to the party for midnight." Harry had said, slowly and carefully pushing Louis' legs off of him. He stood up, only to then lean down to look at Louis' eye. "It's not as red. Wish you'd have let me get you some ice, though. Would have helped to heal it quicker."

"It's fine, love. I can handle a little bump to the eye, I'm a big boy." Louis teased as he stood up.

"I'm sure you are." was Harry's response, and Louis kinda really wanted to prove just how big he is. But that might have been pretty inappropriate. "Coming down?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just need a piss, first."

"Alright then, see you down their." Harry said, holding the bedroom door open for Louis. The two of them went their separate ways, Harry heading downstairs and Louis walking to the bathroom at the end of the hall.

He had his piss, inspected his hair - and eye, which was definitely going to be bruised in the morning - and stole some of Niall's mouthwash, just because, why the hell not? Tonight had been better than he'd ever expected, so he figured he might as well get himself prepared, just in case.

As Louis was walking down the stairs, he could hear people counting down to midnight. He saw Niall, his arms wrapped around some girl who he recognised to be a family friend - Maura's friends' daughter, he believed. He walked into the living room and saw Harry, standing with Taylor, right as Big Ben on the TV struck midnight. And he saw Harry and Taylor kiss, and then reality hit him, once again.

People exchanged a kiss, they all cheered and sang and drank, as the room was filled with the sound of the fireworks outside and on the television. He looked to Niall, and saw him with his tongue down the girls throat. He looked back to Harry, his back to Louis, and saw him resting his forehead to Taylor's. 'I love you, too' he read from Taylor's lips.

No one even saw him sneak out.

 

**December 24 2013**

_Harry_

 

" _Daaaaddddd_!" Charlie whined, as he was tugging on Harry's hand waiting in the queue to see Santa. "Why is it taking so long?".

Harry looked down to his three year old son, watching him look so impatient, cracking a little smile. "Because lots of other boys and girls want to see Santa, too, sweetheart."

"Yeah, but I don't wanna see Santa! I wanna see Louis the Elf!"

Harry laughed just a little, because some things just never changed. "Louis might not even be there, mate. Might be working at Santa's shop, today."

"He will be there! Because I'm here today, so he will be here because he likes me." Charlie argued back.

Harry laughed a little bit more, this time. "Louis likes everybody, Charlie."

"But me, the most." He pouted, folding his arms across his chest. And again, Harry laughed at him. His son was the best thing in his life.

 

Ten minutes later, Harry and Charlie were at the front of the queue, and it was then that Louis had spotted Harry for the first time - or, at least Harry seemed to think so. He saw Louis a few minutes ago, bouncing around, all excited and energetic. And he literally hadn't stopped, since, leading families into the grotto, entertaining the children as they waited at the front of the queue, having little pretend arguments with Niall about who the best elf is. It was so entertaining to watch, Harry thought. He could see Louis working with children - entertaining them, like having his own children's TV show or something - anything that has him in the spotlight, really.

But for some reason, and Harry didn't quite know why, but for some reason when Louis walked out of the grotto and saw Harry stood at the front of the line, his face dropped, his cheeks turning red. And Harry could see that past the red circles painted onto them. Louis began to smile as he walked over to them.

"Harry! Hey! And if it isn't my favourite little guy, Charlie!" Louis said, crouching down so he can see him and open his arms for a hug. Charlie turned to look at Harry, sticking his tongue out.

"Told you!" He said, before looking to Louis and hugging him. Harry laughed, and laughed a little bit harder when he saw Louis' puzzled expression, as to what the 'told you' comment was about.

"Excited to see Santa, love?" Louis asked.

"No, you!" Charlie said excitedly, squeezing Louis a little bit harder. Harry could pinpoint the exact moment that Louis' heart melted (it was about five seconds before Harry's heart melted, seeing his boy so happy, and seeing how he affected Louis).

"I-... thank you." Louis mumbled, and Harry had never seen this boy so speechless - not even when he hit him in the face with a door, last year. He clearly loved children, and Harry knew exactly how Louis was feeling, since he'd spent the past five years working with children. He understood the satisfaction when a child idolised you. It was so fulfilling. Charlie let go of the hug and slowly pulled away from Louis - letting Louis slowly stand up.

"Happy birthday." Harry said with a smile. The least he could do was just... pretend to be nice, anyway.

"Thanks, love." Louis smiled back, looking a little surprised that Harry remembered.

"How've you been?" Harry asked, holding his hand out for a shake.

"Good, thanks." Louis said with a smile, shaking Harry's hand again. "What about you? Where's, uh, Taylor, was it?"

Yeah, that's right. He doesn't know. He never asked. "She's, uh, in New York." Harry said, feeling his cheeks burn up.

"Oh, called into work again?" Louis asked, innocently.

"Nah, not exactly. She, um... she lives there, now." Harry slowly said, scratching his forehead. He could see the moment that it clicked in Louis' head, what he was saying to him.

"Oh... right, uh. Since when?"

"Last month." Harry replied almost instantly. It was hard, he still loved Taylor. He adored her, and reckoned he always would do. But she broke his heart.

 

**November 16 2013**

_Harry_

 

_Taylor left for New York on the November 3, and Harry had missed her ever since. He loved her, he even cried after he'd watched her plane take off from the airport at four in the morning - Charlie was at Harry's best mate, Zayn's, house. He and Taylor had never been apart for so long. Not even after they first met - they had their first date three days later, their second was four days after that, and the third just two days after that. Their relationship blossomed so quickly, and they had been in love from the moment they stumbled to the floor together. And due to Taylor's hectic work schedule, she could only text Harry, and FaceTime him at night from the hotel, but most nights she was working until late and didn't get the chance (even when Harry had woken up early to get the call, due to the time difference)._

_But she was back, now, and Harry was so excited. She'd come home, they had Chinese, and headed up to bed because Taylor was feeling jet-lagged. Harry didn't mind - he knew his wife worked damn hard. They were laying in their bed, spooning, Harry holding Taylor's body close to him, because he'd missed her so much. Taylor leaned forward and switched the bedside lamp off._

_"I love you, beautiful." Harry smiled to the back of Taylor's head._

_"Yeah." She replied with a sigh._

_Harry arched an eyebrow, smirking a little. "Just 'yeah'? That's it?" He chuckled._

_Taylor sighed, pushing herself up. So, Harry sat up, also._

_"I didn't want to have to do this tonight." She said, out of the blue._

_"Do what?"_

_"Harry..." She switched the light on, looking at Harry. "I wanted to wait until tomorrow, or in a few days time. But, I just can't. I need to do it, now."_

_"Do what?" Harry repeated, worried, losing his patience._

_"Haz... I've... I've met someone." She didn't look at him in the eye. If she did, she'd have seen Harry's eyes fill with tears as he felt his heart break. "And... these last two weeks... it wasn't for work, it was so I could be with him." And Harry felt his heart shatter into pieces, this time._

_"You've... you've cheated on me?" Harry asked, his voice barely louder than a whisper, trying his best not to cry as he said it._

_Taylor nodded her head._

_"How long has this been going on?"_

_Taylor didn't answer him._

_"I SAID HOW LONG?!" He snapped, the first time he'd ever raised his voice._

_"A year." Taylor quickly admitted._

_Tears were pouring down Harry's face at this point._

_"Get out." He said. "Leave. I don't want you here."_

_"Well... about that, um... I'm moving in with him. I'm moving to New York." Taylor confessed._

_Oh. She was just going like that. She'd planned it - discussed it with him. She was moving in with him. Taylor turned her head to look at Harry, the first time since they'd started this conversation. She could see the broken boy in front of her, and Harry could see it in her eyes, that she was hurting, too. He kept his eye contact as he reached for the wedding band around his finger. He slowly slid it off, holding it in the palm of his hand._

_"Haz..." Taylor whispered, as Harry glanced down to the ring. He felt his stomach churning. "Haz, I'm so-"_

_"No you're not. You're not sorry, Taylor. A year. I fucking love you, and I thought you felt the same."_

_"Harry, I do lo-"_

_"I don't even know why you're still here. I told you to leave." Harry said, coldly. He'd never been this harsh to anyone in his entire life. But at the same time, he'd never been treated so badly, especially by somebody that he was in love with._

_"What about Charlie?"_

_"He's staying with me. You are the one who broke up this family, you are the one who ruined everything. You don't get to take him away from me. Now go."_

_"But Ha-"_

_"I'm NOT going to tell you again." Harry said, his voice deep and loud, slowly turning his head to look back towards Taylor, and he knew that she could see the pain he felt, and the anger inside of him._

_She didn't say another word. She did this one last thing for Harry and left. Once she had gone, Harry walked into Charlie's room, sitting against the door. He sat there, looking at his son's empty bed. Charlie didn't know that in the morning when he came home, his life was going to be flipped upside down. How could Taylor do this to them? She was supposed to love them. Harry did everything he could to make her happy, he loved her with all of his heart._

_But he had to stay strong. He had to do that for Charlie._

 

**December 24 2013**

_Louis_

 

Louis instantly regretted bringing up Taylor, already. Harry looked like he was on the verge of tears, what a stupid thing to say. He was probably already going through a lot, it had only been a month and this was the first Christmas without her, he must be going through such a tough time, right now.

"I'm so sorry, H." Louis said, quietly.

Harry just nodded, and they remained silent for a little while, until Niall poked his head out of Santa's grotto, to tell Louis the next family could come through. But when he saw Harry, Niall joined the two of them.

"Haz, mate, how are you?" Niall said, pulling him into a strong hug. Louis knew Niall well enough to know that he only gave people a hug that firm if he was feeling sorry for them and wanted to cheer them up. This was probably the first time Niall had seen Harry since he found out about Taylor.

"Good, thanks, Ni. You?" Harry replied to the question as he pulled away from the hug.

"Yeah, not bad." Niall said, trying not to say the wrong thing - sort of how Louis had done, and ended up making Harry said, which is something he never wanted to do. Niall looked down to Charlie. "Hey, buddy! Santa's ready to see you, now."

Charlie smiled before taking Niall's hand, and the two of them walked towards the door, with Louis and Harry following. Niall and Charlie walked in first, but before Harry had the chance to walk through, Louis placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, stopping him. Harry turned to look at Louis.

"Haz, if you ever need anything - someone to talk to, someone to... babysit Charlie, just... anything, really, and I'm here. Actually, I'm going out with Niall and a few mates after work - just a few birthday drinks. You're welcome to come, if you can find someone to have Charlie." Louis said, offering Harry the most genuine smile he has ever done before.

Harry just laughed a little, although Louis could tell he wasn't laughing in a good way, shaking his head. "No offence, Louis, because I tried to be civil, but I just can't... I don't need or want your pity."

Louis was a little taken back by this, because, of the sharpness to Harry's voice. "It's not pity, Harry."

"No? Then what is it?"

"It's.. I'm being friendly. It's friendship?" Louis said, brows furrowed, slightly, in confusion.

And Harry laughed, again. "Friendship? You really think that this is a friendship? We spent hours talking to each other, you promised you'd text me, and then you just disappeared, never text me and I hadn't heard from you since. And now, nearly a year later, you want to call this a friendship? Whatever, Lou." Harry rolled his eyes, before walking into the grotto, leaving Louis stood by himself.

And shit. Shit, fucking shit. What the fuck has Louis done?

He looked on at the space that Harry was stood in for a few seconds, taking it all in. He never even thought Harry noticed he'd left at the Horan's party. And he just thought Harry was being polite with the number thing, that he didn't actually want to keep in touch with Louis. He was such an arsehole, he can't believe he had ruined this. This was the year when Harry needed him, and he hadn't been there for him.

 

When Niall popped his head out of the grotto a few minutes later to tell Louis to send the next couple in, Louis was stood, leaning against the wall, not paying attention to the customers. Niall rolled his eyes and walked over to him.

"Dude, what the hell are you playing at? Come on, get with it."

"I didn't mean to be such a knob." Louis mumbled.

"What? Simmer down, mate, nobody is saying that. Just go and entertain the customers." Niall said, one eyebrow raised up onto his forehead at Louis' dramatics.

"I've fucked it up." Louis murmured.

"Dude, take it easy, jus-"

"Can you cover for me, for five mins, I swear. I just need to go and apologise." Louis begged, standing up straight.

"For what?" Niall asked, but it was too late, because Louis was already rushing off.

He ran to the other side of the grotto and looked around for Harry, until he spotted him walking into the Disney store. Louis chased after him, pushing his way past people, and basically not being a very good elf right about now. Thankfully his boss couldn't see him - Simon would have killed him if he knew he was acting like this during work hours, when he was supposed to be representing the shopping centre.

When Louis finally caught up with Harry, Harry rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Louis?"

"To say I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to be such a di-.. idiot. I didn't, I swear. I'm sorry." Louis apologised. Just the thought of Harry being upset with him was enough to upset Louis, he was devastated and he needed to make it right.

"Quite frankly, I don't care. I've got enough going on right now and the last thing I need is you harassing me. Now leave me alone." Harry said, turning his back on Louis.

"Haz... I'm sorry." Louis muttered, feeling a lump develop in his throat.

Harry shook his head, not even turning to look at Louis. "I'm not going to tell you again." He said, and Louis felt like crying. But he'd already upset Harry enough, he didn't want to push him any further. He didn't want to hurt him anymore. Louis sighed, turning around and slowly walking away.

He'd fucked up. Big time. It was weird, he could count on one hand the amount of times he had spoken to Harry, but he had never felt like this, before. He'd never felt so disappointed in himself for upsetting another person so badly. There was no coming back from this, Louis was sure of it.

 

**February 1 2014**

_Harry_

 

It was Harry's twenty seventh birthday, and all he wanted to do was stay at home and eat pizza whilst watching a bunch of films with Charlie. Zayn didn't allow that.

No, instead, he is sitting in some bar with Zayn, a tray of empty shot glasses on the table in front of them, drinking double vodkas. Zayn had told him that he needed to get out of the house for himself. Ever since Taylor left him, he only left the house if it was for work or the benefit of Charlie. He never did anything by himself or for himself anymore, and Zayn wasn't going to let that happen any longer, especially not on his birthday.

"You need to get out there, H. You need to have some fun, pull! Forget about Taylor, you're a beautiful man and you can have any girl you want!" Zayn had told him, his little pep-talk as he pushed him into the backseat of the taxi.

Harry wasn't all that impressed, really. Zayn was buying all of the drinks - because that was what Harry had come to expect from Zayn, ever since his artwork really took off and he began to sell paintings for a couple of hundred... and then a couple of thousand. And at this point, he was nearing fifty thousand per painting at his art exhibits. All that for a few splashes of paint on a blank canvas. Harry spent his days earning nine pound an hour for changing nappies and cleaning up baby sick. It just didn't seem fair.

"Seen anyone you like yet, mate?" Zayn asked him.

"Nope." Harry didn't even look around the bar.

"For god's sake, man, pull yourself together. I'm gonna get you another drink." Zayn said, pushing his chair away from the table and standing up.

"And I'm gonna go piss." Harry stood up, also.

"If you climb through the toilet window, I'm gonna break your kneecaps." Zayn said as he walked to the bar.

"Damn, you got me!" Harry smirked, rolling his eyes as he made his way to the bathroom.

It wasn't that he didn't appreciate Zayn trying to help him, because he did. He just didn't think that he needed to be helped in this way. Maybe further down the line, yeah, but not now. He just needed a bit more time and a bit more space. Zayn was amazing during the past few months. He'd been there whenever Harry needed him, no matter what. But sometimes when he got an idea in his head, he would stick to it, even if Harry had asked and begged him not to. He thought he knew what was best for Harry, and wouldn't take no for an answer. But he never did, really. Zayn was as laid back as they came, would just go with the flow and do whatever he was told or asked. But when he thought he was helping his friends and doing the right thing for them, he wouldn't let anyone talk him out of it.

 

Harry zipped up his fly after his piss and walked towards the sinks to wash his hands. As he reached for the soap dispenser, the door slammed open. He practically jumped out of his skin, he was terrified. He looked to the door, seeing Niall pretty much dragging a brown haired boy to the nearest toilet cubicle. Harry raised an eyebrow, watching the scene unfold.

"Come on, Li, nearly there. Can't be sick on the floor, mate, 'cause I ain't cleanin' that up aga- Harry!" Niall stopped his sentence half way through to express his delight to see Harry. "Alright, mate? Don't mind us, Liam's just a pussy who can't handle his drink, ain't ya, mate?"

Liam didn't respond, head rolling around and eyes closed, mouth wide open. Harry wasn't even sure he was conscious.

"Do, uh, you need some help?" Harry asked, timidly, watching as Niall kicked the cubicle door open.

"Help? What with?" Niall questioned as he dropped the boy - Liam, apparently - to his knees, positioning his head over the toilet bowl.

"With him?"

"Liam?" Niall asked, confused, turning around and leaning against the door, looking at Harry. "Why would I need help with him?"

"Like, want me get an ambulance or something?" Harry asked, peeking past Niall to look at Liam.

"Nah, he'll be alright. Just a feckin' lightweight, is all." Niall shrugged, turning to look at Liam.

Harry just shook his head. He was tipsy, but he definitely wasn't drunk enough for this. "Right, well... I'm just gonna get a drink. Come get me if you need me, yeah?"

"Will do!" Niall said, cheerily, from inside the cubicle. Harry walked towards the door, when he heard Niall call his name.

"Yeah?"

"Get me a pint, would ya?" Niall asked, head peering from the toilet stall.

"Uh, sure."

"And maybe just half for Li." Niall smiled, before disappearing back into the toilet.

Harry walked out of the bathroom, a little smile on his face, because it had been a long time since he, himself, had been in that situation - Niall's or Liam's, for that matter - and he certainly didn't miss it. He was too old for that, now, he thought.

Harry walked to the table, seeing the back of Zayn's head - and then a brown haired boy sitting on his lap. Now, Zayn and Harry had been best friends since high school - he knew that Zayn was bisexual, but it had been a long time since he'd pulled a guy. He'd been non-exclusively sleeping with Perrie, a girl who Harry worked with at the nursery - and he had chose not to pull anyone else whilst he was having this fling with her, and she'd been doing the same. Why they didn't just make it official, Harry didn't know. So because of that, this whole scene was unexpected.

It wasn't until Harry got to Zayn's side that he realised that the boy sitting on his lap wasn't just any boy. Because, no, that would be too fucking easy, wouldn't it?

"Louis?" Harry had asked, eyes widening as both Zayn and Louis turned to look at him.

"HAROLD!" Louis shouted, obviously drunk. Harry sighed. "Long time, no see, darling! Have you met Zack?"

"Zayn." Zayn corrected.

"Zayn! Have you met Zayn?" Louis asked once again.

"He's my best mate." Harry said, bluntly, sitting down at the table. Louis might have been drunk, but he still picked up on that.

"Did you hear that tone of voice, Zac-ZAYN! He's still pissed at me." Louis turned to look at Harry. "I'm sorry, okay? Don't know how many more times I could say it. Even texted-ed you lots but you never replied!"

Zayn looked confused. "Haz, do you know this guy? Because he literally just fell on my knee and decided not to leave."

"I'm just in awe of your cheekbones." Louis slurred, looking down to Zayn. "So pointy." He lifted his finger and carefully poked at Zayn's right cheekbone.

Harry shook his head, he'd seen enough and he'd had enough, so this was his perfect opportunity. "Alright, I'm taking you home." He said, standing back up and walking to Louis and Zayn. "Up." He said, but Louis didn't listen. So Harry just took his hands and pulled him up to his feet. "Come on, Lou. Zayn, I'm sorry, mate. Can't let him stay like this."

But Zayn understood - Harry knew he would, because Zayn was perhaps the most understanding person in the world. "It's fine, mate. I'll call Perrie. She's out anyway, with Jesy, so I'll go to them."

"Is Perrie your wife?" Louis mumbled. "Fuck, why are all the hot ones straight?" Louis threw his head back, nearly throwing his whole body back, if Harry didn't still have a hold on his hands.

He wasn't going to take anymore chances. Harry threw one of Louis' arms over his shoulder, and wrapped one of his own arms around his waist as he lead him out of the bar, wanting to get him out as quickly as possible. There was a couple of taxi's waiting just down the street, so Harry claimed one of them as his, as they began walking towards it - or, more like Harry was walking, and Louis was just letting his feet drag across the floor.

"What's your address?" Harry had asked as they approached the taxi.

"You takin' me home? Normally have to buy me a couple of drinks to get my arse, mate." Louis said, and at that point, Harry couldn't even tell if Louis knew who he was talking to. "S'pose I can let it slide just this once, though, eh? Just for you." Louis slurred out, attempting to wink - but he was literally just blinking at Harry, and if Harry wasn't so shocked that Louis would give himself away so easily like this to anyone, he'd find the whole winking disaster rather cute.

"Just shut up and tell me where you live." Harry said.

"How can I tell you if you want me to shut up? God Harold, you do talk some rubbish!" Louis snapped back, but he sounded quite fond as he said it, a smile never leaving his lips. Harry just rolled his eyes.

(It took him twenty minutes, sitting in the back of the taxi, to get Louis' address).

 

They had only been inside of Louis' house for ten minutes. Louis had drunkenly babbled something about how his family were away, visiting his grandparents again, but he'd decided to stay home, simply because he had the house to himself for the weekend and could walk around naked and wank in the living room. Wasn't exactly something that Harry had wanted to hear, but he thought he'd keep it in mind in case he ever needed to embarrass Louis at some point in the future.

The two of them were sat in the bathroom - Louis was leaning over the toilet, throwing up, and Harry was sat beside him, one hand softly running up and down his back to comfort him. He hated throwing up, even at his age, and he always wanted someone there to comfort him when he was, so he figured he'd do the same for Louis.

"Euuurgh, I hate being sick." Louis mumbled, and Harry couldn't even see his face: his head was literally in the toilet.

"Me too."

"Didn't even know I'd drank this much, didn't wanna drink so much." The younger boy muttered.

"Should be me in this situation, mate, not you." Harry said with a bit of a smirk on his face.

He couldn't see Louis, but he just knew he rolled his eyes at that. "If this is some self-pity party-of-one thing cause of Taylor, I have no sympathy." Louis had said, pausing to throw up. "'Cause I'm the one chuckin' me guts up, not you."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "Nah, it's not because of that."

"Then what is it?"

"My birthday." Harry said. It was then when Louis lifted his head up out of the toilet, turning to look to Harry for the first time since they got into the house.

"Your birthday?"

"Yeah. Well, not now, 'cause it's past midnight, but yeah, the first of February. My birthday."

"And you're spending it sitting on my bathroom floor with me?" Louis asked, and Harry could tell that he looked genuinely upset that he'd ruined his birthday. "You should be out, gettin' smashed and fingerin' some eighteen year old in the toilets or something!"

Harry chuckled. "S'that what you do on your birthdays?"

Louis shook his head. "Nah." He turned himself around so that he could lean against the bathroom wall, but Harry remained on his knees by the toilet, just in case Louis needed him to be there again. "More of a blowie in the alley kinda guy, meself." He said, so nonchalantly that Harry almost didn't even register what had been said. But then it did click in, and Harry felt a shiver down his spine, his stomach beginning to churn. He didn't know why, though, but he felt quite angry and sick. "Don't tell Li, though, 'cause he'll only moan at me like the boring fucker that he is."

Harry just laughed off the sick feeling in his stomach. "Don't worry, mate, my lips are sealed."

"Until my cock's there, anyway." Louis said, looking Harry dead in the eye.

"I think... you just need to focus on not being sick anymore." Harry said, deflecting the conversation. "Want some water?"

"Please." Louis said, closing his eyes and bringing his knees up to his chest.

"Alright, I'll be back in a sec, mate." Harry stood up and walked towards the door.

"H?"

He turned around to look at Louis, who had his head resting on his knees. "Yeah, Lou?"

"Happy birthday." He mumbled.

Harry remained looking at Louis, and before he realised, he had a huge grin on his lips. He didn't know how long he'd been looking and smiling at this boy in front of him, but Louis had remained perfectly still, doing nothing to make Harry want to look at him - but Harry just couldn't help himself. He didn't know why, but he felt like he could look at this boy forever, and never be bored. It was weird. He shook his head, before turning to leave the room.

Maybe he'd drank a little more than he realised.

 

When he returned to the bathroom just a minute later, Louis was laying on his back, spread across the bathroom floor, snoring. Harry smiled at him, sound asleep.

 

**February 2 2014**

_Louis_

 

Louis woke up and felt like he'd been hit by a train. He felt like he was on the verge of dying, if he hadn't died already. He hadn't even opened his eyes yet, so he didn't quite know how he'd woken up, but something had stirred him. He turned over onto his side, and slowly - very slowly - opened his eyes, only to see his bedroom wall. He then realised that he was on his bed. He couldn't even remember getting home, never mind getting into bed.

Louis rolled over onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, and ran a hand through his hair. God, he needed a drink. He looked over to the bedside table and saw a glass of water and two tablets - he was turning into a pretty good drunk, preparing himself for the morning after. That was definitely a skill to be proud of. He attempted to reach for the glass, but he just couldn't lift his head up without wanting to die, so he figured he could wait just a little bit.

After a few minutes of laying in bed, Louis felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep once again. That was, until, he heard the smoke alarm beginning to beep - a loud, shrill beeping that only served to punish Louis. But... shit. He was home alone. His house is actually on fire.

"Fuck." Louis said, leaping up out of his bed - forgetting about the pain, because let's face it, a pounding head and an aching body is nothing compared to being burned alive. Louis sprinted out of his room and made his way down the stairs, but it wasn't until he was nearly at the bottom that he saw a lanky man with a mass of brown hair jumping up and down, wafting a tea towel to clear the smoke from the alarm on the ceiling in the hallway.

Louis came to a halt, clinging onto the railing to stop himself from tumbling down the last few steps. He looked over the railing to the guy, arching an eyebrow. "Harry?!" He shouted, so he could be heard over the alarm.

Harry was startled, letting out a little shriek as he turned to look towards Louis. If he wasn't hungover, confused and slightly terrified, Louis would have probably found it hilarious. "Shit! Lou! Shit, I'm sorry!" Harry said.

"The fuck are you doing?!" Louis shouted, as Harry resumed wafting the tea towel.

"Trying to stop this stupid thing from going off!" Harry said.

Louis sighed, and just leaned over the railing and unscrewed the smoke alarm, removing the batteries. The beeping came to a stop, and Harry let out a sigh of relief.

"Ah. Thanks." Harry said, biting onto his lip and looking a little bit embarrassed that he didn't think of doing that.

"I meant, 'what the fuck are you doing in my house?'." Louis corrected himself.

"Making breakfast."

"Burning breakfast, more like." Louis scoffed, walking down the last few steps and looking towards Harry. "For real, though, love, what are you doing here?"

"You honestly don't remember?" Harry asked, turning to walk towards the kitchen. Louis followed.

"Nope. We didn't, like..."

"Have sex?" Harry stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulder to Louis.

"Yeah. We didn't, did we?"

"I wouldn't call it 'sex', as such. Just a blowie in the back alley." Harry said with a smirk.

Louis felt his cheeks flush - which was surprising, because he also felt his dick twitch. Didn't think he had enough blood left in the rest of his body to focus on his cheeks, not with the thought of Harry and him in a back alley in his head - and cock. "W-we... and... you're straight, though?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Weirder things have happened." He said like it was nothing. Louis couldn't believe it, because he's only fucking being fantasising about this for years, now. He bit onto his bottom lip, looking to Harry, and he just happened to catch Harry's eye for far too long, and Harry burst into laughter. "I'm winding you up, mate!" Harry chuckled.

And oh. That was not the way Louis wanted this to go. "You're winding me up?"

"Yeah! Nothing happened - you just got proper pissed and I brought you home, ended up crashing on the sofa." Harry said, turning his head back and walking into the kitchen.

Louis was grateful for Harry walking away, because he didn't think he could hide his disappointment, even if he wanted to. "Oh, uh, thank fuck for that. I mean, you're proper old and all that." Louis laughed, and if his performing arts tutor could see him now, she'd be failing him instantly.

"Oi! Not that old, only twenty seven and a day!" Harry exclaimed, examining the burnt sausage, before turning to look to Louis, standing in the kitchen doorway. A huge grin spread on his face.

"A day? Yesterday was your birthday?" Louis asked, but Harry clearly wasn't paying attention.

"Uh, Lou..." Harry said.

"I can't believe I was a fucking drunk twat and you ended up bringing me home  _on your birthday._ " Louis shook his head, placing his hands on his hips. "I am so sorry, H, I feel like a right dick."

And Harry burst out into laughter, once again. "Feel like a... like a right dick!" He giggled, and Louis just became more confused.

Well, he did, anyway, until Harry pointed to Louis' lower body. Louis looked down at himself, noticing that he was in nothing but his tightest pair of boxer-briefs (his pulling pants, obviously). But that wasn't the worst of it. He had a semi on. But it was fucking Harry's fault. Well, not fucking Harry, because if he was fucking Harry, his boner would be put to good use. But Harry was the one who put the idea of Louis sucking his dick into his head and obviously into his cock.

Louis' eyes widened, quickly dropping his hands to cover the outline of his dick through his underwear - but the attention, knowing Harry's eyes were on him, his dick, it just made him harder. He felt his cock throbbing, and he had never been more humiliated in front of someone he liked this much in his whole entire life.

"Uh, gonna take another twenty or so minutes for me to cook some more sausages, if you wanna go and... take care of your sausage." Harry grinned - a huge fucking grin with teeth and gums and dimples and Louis couldn't cope.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll just go and throw some clothes on." Louis said, turning around and rushing down the hallway. He heard Harry wolf whistle, and Louis just wished that he was admiring the way his arse looked, and not just taking the piss.

 

(He may or may not have spent the next ten minutes wanking away in his bed to the thought of Harry's cock being shoved down his throat in some dingy back alley).

 

**February 14 2014**

_Harry_

 

It had only been two weeks since the night in the pub, but Harry and Louis had actually stayed in touch, this time. They'd been texting quite a bit after that day. They spent the rest of the morning together, and some of the afternoon together. And they probably would have spent another night together, just talking and laughing and watching TV, had Harry's mother not called him to ask where he was, because she was waiting outside of his house with Charlie, having babysat him. So Harry had to shoot off, but not before getting Louis' number, so he could text him and they could avoid the whole situation from last year.

So, after two whole weeks of texting quite a lot, getting to know each other more and becoming better friends. It was good, Harry enjoyed having someone else to talk to, outside of Zayn and the girls from work. It was nice and refreshing, and he couldn't help but want to talk to Louis all the time. He'd not made friends with someone this easily since he and Zayn first met in year seven at high school.

It was Valentine's Day, and Harry and Louis planned a lads night in, because they were both single. But eventually, they ended up being joined by Niall and Liam. Zayn was supposed to be joining them, as well, but when Jesy told Harry that some guy had been trying to flirt with Perrie, Harry had to tell Zayn. And, well, Zayn wasn't going to stand for that, so he  _finally_ told Perrie that he loved her, and they made it official. And they were having their very first date tonight.  _(Only, what Zayn didn't know was that Jesy told Harry nothing and that there was no guy, he just needed Zayn to tell Perrie how he really felt before it was too late. But nobody needed to know that)._

It was half one and the four lads had already ate three pizza's, drank two crates of Bud and a bottle and a half of vodka. They were playing Fifa for a while, in teams - Louis and Harry against Niall and Liam. Louis and Harry won, but it was mostly Louis' work, because Harry was shit at footie games. Now, Niall and Louis were upstairs in Niall's bedroom, smoking a joint. They'd decided not to do it in the living room, to avoid Liam being pissed at them. He was always the sensible one, Louis told Harry. But apparently, they were corrupting him, which is why he spent half the week drunk. Harry just thought that was the life for any uni student, sensible or not.

So, it was just a drunk Liam and Harry in the living room, sitting on the other side of the room with each other. Harry was drunk, but just not as drunk as Liam currently was.

"Haz. I promised Boo Bear I wouldn't do this." Liam said, head rocking around on his shoulders, finger aiming somewhere near Harry's direction, but never staying still long enough to actually point at Harry.

"Boo Bear?" Harry questioned, eyebrows raised.

"Lou." Liam said, drawing out the name. Harry grinned, because  _Boo Bear._  "He asked me not to say anything, but I'm going to."

"Oooookay..." Harry leaned back in the chair, trying to hide his grin. Liam had a serious and stern expression on his face, so Harry tired to go along with it, for his sake, although he probably wouldn't remember this in the morning.

"What are your intentions with Louis?" He asked, and Harry just laughed. But he soon regained his composure, acting serious, just to go along with what Liam wanted.

"Lou and I are just mates, Liam."

"Yeah, okay. I'm just sayin', right, he likes you a lot. If you hurt him, I'll hurt you. Work out, y'know. Would snap your skinny legs like...  _snap_." Liam said. Harry had to bite his lips so that he didn't laugh out loud at that.

"Not gonna hurt him, mate. But, uh... thanks for the warning. Will keep that in mind." Harry nodded.

"Good."

"Yeah. I'm, uh." Harry started, wanting to get out of the room. He'd much rather be sitting with Niall and Louis. It wasn't that he didn't like Liam. He just couldn't exactly talk to him right now, they were hardly on the same level at this moment in time. "I'm gonna piss."

Liam just nodded as Harry stood up left Niall's living room, walking upstairs. He'd remembered where Niall's room was because, even after two years, he remembered slamming the bedroom door into Louis' face. The door was shut, so he made sure to open it with precaution, this time. He poked his head around, only to see Niall flat out in the desk chair, and Louis sitting at the small seat in the window, looking out at the sky, smoking the joint. He hadn't even realised that Harry had walked into the room. Harry couldn't help but smile, seeing the side of Louis' face, the moonlight reflecting off of it. If he had his camera on him right now, then he'd take a photo and he was sure it would make him famous or something, because it was just so beautiful. The stars sparkling in the sky, the moonlight reflecting on Louis' sharp and pointed features. It was a breathtaking scene.

Until Niall farted in his sleep and Louis just burst out into laughter. He turned his head to look towards Niall, and spotted Harry behind him. And the laughter stopped, but the smile remained.

"Harry, love, how are ya?" Louis said, patting the space on the seat next to him. Harry walked across the room and sat down next to him, their arms touching.

"Tired." Harry mumbled. "You?"

"Good. 'M good. Although not gonna lie, pretty depressed."

"Yeah? What about?" Harry asked, arching his eyebrow.

"Life. Love.  _Valentine's Day._ It's just the most depressin' day in the world, init? Makin' everyone feel bad if they aren't in a relationship and don't have anyone who loves them to buy them a card and chocolate and flowers, and spend the day kissing them and makin' them know that they're loved and shit. And I don't have it. Niall doesn't have it, Liam doesn't have it, and, man, it must be fucking horrible for you, because you did have it, but now you don't."

Harry didn't respond. He just pouted his lips slightly, and looked down to his hands as they rested on his lap. So much for having a lads night to forget about all of this. Louis had just reminded him of the exact reason he agreed to come with them tonight, because he didn't want to think about how this time last year, he had it all, but now, he's a single parent, struggling to get by.

Louis placed his empty hand on top of Harry's. "I'm sorry, love, I didn't mean to upset you, I just... you're always so strong and positive, and I admire you for it. You've been through a lot and I don't get how you've done it, because I don't think I'd have been able to carry on if the love of my life left me for another man."

"You're not really making me feel much better, Lou." Harry mumbled, turning to look to Louis just in time to see him pouting his lips.

"Shit. Sorry. Here." Louis said, passing him the joint. Harry took a drag of it, before handing it back to Louis. Louis took another drag himself, before turning to look back out of the window. "I'm glad we're friends, Haz."

Harry smiled a little, getting a little fuzzy feeling in his tummy. "Me too, mate. To be honest, you're part of the reason I've managed to keep going. You, Charlie and Zayn. You've helped me to keep it all together, stopped me from breaking. And I'm telling you this now, 'cause I know you're pissed and high and probably won't remember it in the morning." Louis chuckled, which made Harry's smile brighter.

"You're not wrong, my love, you're not wrong." Louis muttered, shrugging his shoulders and finishing off the joint. "Do you know what I miss the most about being in a relationship, though?" Louis asked.

"What's that?"

"Just... having a huge, fat cock to suck on in the morning." Louis started, and Harry felt his cheeks flush instantly. It wasn't that he was embarrassed to hear that stuff, he was open minded and always had been, and hearing about sex, straight or gay, didn't bother him at all. "Just... having it fill my mouth, feeling it hit the back of my throat, damn, I miss that so much." Louis carried on, and Harry just couldn't explain it. There was something about hearing these words come from Louis' mouth that made him feel weird, a feeling he'd never had before. Maybe it had something to do with the alcohol. "Know what I mean?" Louis asked.

Harry shook his head. "Nah, not exactly. Never had one in my mouth."

"You're missing out, bud." Louis said as though it was a fact, and for a second, Harry felt like he believed him. He  _was_ missing out on not having a cock in his mouth! Only, he wasn't really, because that thought had never even entered his head before until he saw the expression on Louis' face when he was talking about it. It was definitely the alcohol, making him think like this. Maybe the weed, too. Sure, he only had one drag, but second-hand highness is, like, a thing, right?

"I think I'll be alright without one in my mouth, if I'm honest." Harry said, and he glanced to Louis just in time to see the pout on his face, before he began to talk.

"Your loss." He smirked, looking to Harry.

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked him.

"Yeah. Definitely. The only thing better is having that big, hard cock shoved right up your ars-"

"FUCK!"

Both Louis and Harry jumped, turning to look into the direction of the shouting and the loud bang that came with it. What they saw was Niall, flat on his face, the desk chair he was sitting on tipped over, laying across his legs.

"Shit, dude, are you okay?!" Louis asked, as both he and Harry jumped up to their feet. Harry quickly lifted the chair off of him - it wasn't heavy, but he figured he'd do something helpful.

Niall began to snore. Like, he actually fell off of his chair, landed face first on the hard wood floor and began to snore. Harry had never seen anything quite like it. Both he and Louis began to laugh. They tried to laugh quietly, but the more they tried to be quiet, the more they just began to laugh more. Harry rested his head onto Louis' shoulder, he was laughing so hard. But with the two of them laughing, and the two of them drunk, Louis lost his footing and tumbled back onto the bed, Harry falling on top of him.

That only made them laugh harder.

It was a good few minutes before they finally calmed down, and decided that they didn't want to move. Louis grabbed a pillow and stuffed it behind him, leaning against the wall, and Harry just lay with his head on Louis' lap, talking about how he wants to bake cupcakes with rainbow sponge on the inside, since he'd never been able to figure out how to do it.

 

Harry didn't even know when he and Louis had fallen asleep last night, but they both did, at some point. When Harry woke up, he and Louis were still in the same position. Louis was still fast asleep - he was snoring just a little bit, and mumbling slightly. Harry smiled at that. He shuffled his body around just a little bit, and slowly lifted his head up from Louis' lap. It was than that he realised he was resting his head on Louis' erection. And damn, it just seemed to be a re-occuring theme, with Harry being the first to notice Louis' morning wood.

He figured it was best not to mention anything to Louis, this time around.

 

**August 23 2014**

_Louis_

 

When Louis had woken up in the morning, the last thing he expected was a text message from Harry asking if he had any plans tonight. He didn't, he was just going to spend the night with his family. Probably treat them all to a take-away, and they could watch a movie or something. But as soon as he saw the text, that all changed. He'd never had a text like that from Harry before. It was normally Louis who would invite Harry out, and whenever Harry wanted to make plans, they wouldn't be so last minute. So this had to be something big and special. It had to be important.

_Nope, nothing planned ! why? xx_

He replied, and he spent the next fifteen minutes laying in bed, staring at his iPhone, waiting for the response.

_Could really do with a babysitter, I'm desperate and I'll pay! xxxxx_

Okay, so that wasn't exactly the response that Louis had in mind. He wanted something along the lines of  _because I realised that I'm gay and I want to fuck you until you can't walk_ , but that was just wishful thinking, he guesses.

_Ok, what time do you want me there ? xx_

Louis texted back, a little bit defeated. But at the end of the day, he loved spending time with Charlie, too, so he was sure he'd have fun.

_Not leaving until eight, but come around at any time! Thank you thank you thank you xxxxx_

This guy had Louis wrapped around his finger, and Louis knew it, even if Harry didn't.

 

Louis had arrived outside Harry's house at ten to five. He was a bit eager, if he was honest. Liam had arrived at his house this morning, at about eleven, and Louis wanted to leave and go to Harry's then, but Liam talked him out of it. And Louis guessed he had to agree. Eleven was just a tad too early. But ten to five was definitely not a problem, at all. I mean, Harry clearly wanted him there at this time, right? He even told him to come around at any time, so he obviously wanted him there before eight, right?

Louis knocked on the door and waited for a little while, and then he knocked again. And again. Harry's car was in the drive, so he was clearly home. But then again, it was August. It was twenty five degrees, and it was the afternoon. Perhaps he and Charlie had gone for a walk. Maybe Louis was a little bit too eager, still.

But he figured he'd try the handle because, you know, why not? Louis pulled down and pushed, and the door opened. So, either Harry was home, or he just needed a lesson in security.

Louis took a step inside of the house, shutting the door behind him. "Harry?" he shouted, slowly walking towards the living room. He'd been to Harry's house a few times over the past several months, so he knew where he was going. "Haz? Hello!" He shouted once again, dragging out the end of his last word. He walked through the living room and towards the kitchen, where he spotted that the back door was open.

Louis rushed to the door and had a quick look outside, only to see Charlie splashing around in a little paddling pool. Louis let out a sigh of relief, letting go of the anxiety that he didn't even realise he had building up inside of him. He was genuinely so relieved to see Charlie there, happy and enjoying himself.

It wasn't until Louis looked to the left and saw the best thing in his whole entire life right there in front of him. Harry Styles, laying on the grass in the tiniest pair of yellow shorts that Louis had ever seen on a man - or woman, for that matter. There was a layer of sweat glistening all over his body, his long legs right there, tattoos all on show, and God, Louis just wanted to lick him from head to toe. He had never seen a more beautiful sight, and he had never been more turned on than he is right now.

"LOUIS!" Charlie exclaimed, distracting Louis from the view of Harry, and also distracting Harry from his peaceful sunbathing.

"Hey, little man!" Louis shouted back as Charlie ran across the garden to him, wrapping his arms around his legs and hugging him, soaking him in the process.

"Santa doesn't need you at the workshop  _again_?!" Charlie mumbled, face pressed against Louis' thigh, arms still tightly wrapped around him.

Louis shrugged his shoulders, looking over to Harry, who was smirking, holding his sunglasses up above his eyes so he can watch the scene in front of him. "I play too many pranks on Santa and the other elves, so he only wants me to help out in December."

"He always has been the most mischievous elf, Charlie. Always up to no good." Harry said, still smirking.

Louis grinned back to Harry. "Everybody loves a bad boy, what can I say?"

Harry's smirk was soon lost due to his giggling. Charlie let go of Louis and went back to playing in his paddling pool, as Louis walked across to Harry, who was still laughing. Louis sat down next to him - not without giving Harry a little kick to the thigh - that beautiful tanned thigh, oh God, Louis just wanted to touch it.

"What was that for?" Harry asked Louis, who was crossing his legs as he sat.

"For laughing!" Louis snapped, but there was obviously no maliciousness behind it. He loved Harry too much to be malicious, in any way.

"Well you called yourself a bad boy, and come on, you're like a little grumpy kitten."

"I can't believe you would call me a little grumpy kitten, how dare you?"

"I love kittens, though. It's a compliment, really, mate, you should accept it." Harry said, laying his head back down onto the grass. "Wasn't expecting you around so early. I'd have put more clothes on if I was expecting company." Harry chuckled.

Louis wanted to tell him that he'd prefer it if Harry dressed like this all the time, but he figured he'd better not. "It's alright, love. You've seen me in far less clothing." Which doesn't seem possible, really, but it's true. Louis should stop getting as drunk as he does, because he's a nightmare. Not only has Harry seen him in his tight pulling pants more than once, but he also saw him completely naked, once before, when Louis and the lads were spending the night at Harry's house, and a wasted Louis thought it was a brilliant idea to have a shower (he only went and fell out of the shower, and Harry was the only one sober enough to help him to his feet and dress him).

"That is true, that is very, very true." Harry said, before pulling his face, looking like he was disgusted. Louis punched his arm. "Hey!" Harry gasped, drawing out the word.

"I am deeply offended, my cock is beautiful and I have never met another person who disagreed, gay or straight." Louis retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'd rather you not talk about your  _beautiful cock_ whilst my son is about ten feet away from us, thank you." Harry said.

"Well, I like to talk about my beautiful cock, and if you don't like it, Harold, then you can leave."

"It's my house,  _Lewis_."

"And you should be lucky enough to have my beautiful cock inside it." Louis said proudly. Harry just rolled his eyes, laughing, before he lay back down.

Louis couldn't help but take a moment to admire the view. He was so beautiful, he really was. His freshly tanned skin (Harry had clearly been spending a lot of his free time this summer working on it, Louis could tell), his tattoos, his slightly toned body and the trail of hair that lead down from his belly button and hid under the low-riding shorts he was wearing. The way his curls lay, spread out on the grass. The way his lips were a deep shade of pink, right there, as though they were waiting for Louis to just kiss them. It was like torture, really, being friends with such a beautiful, straight guy. Louis didn't know how he had managed to say so strong after all this time. He lay down next to Harry, arms by his side, and he closed his eyes. He could get used to this, he thought, laying next to Harry. Sleeping next to him, tucked into his side. He wanted it more than anything, and it was sickening, really. He'd never felt like this about anyone before.

"I have a date, tonight."

Wait, what? No, that wasn't part of Louis' fantasy.

"A what?" Louis nearly snapped his neck to look at Harry, and he perhaps could have sounded a little less surprised, if he'd have put some effort into it.

"A date. You know, what two people who like each other do, to get to know each other even more." Harry replied, and even though his eyes were closed and he had no idea Louis was looking at him, he was smiling at his own joke.

"Yeah, I know what a date is, Harry. I was just.."

"Surprised? Yeah, and me." He laughed.

"Who with?" Louis asked.

"Some girl called Nikki. Perrie set me up with her. She's a friend of a friend - some girl called Eleanor, I think? I've not met her, but... I think you know them, actually. Doesn't Eleanor go to your uni, or something?"

"Yeah, yeah I know them." Louis said, doing his best to hide his displeasure. He knew Nikki. Nikki, with the beautiful face and the lovely personality and the big boobs and the long legs the arse that gives Louis a run for his money. She was perfect. There was absolutely no way that Harry wouldn't love her. Everybody loved her. Even Louis loved her. She lived a few houses down from Eleanor. Louis had met her at parties Eleanor had thrown, and God, he wished he could hate her, but she was just too sweet.

"What's she like? Is she nice?" Harry turned onto his side, opening his eyes and looking at Louis earnestly, like he was relying on his approval or something. Louis was probably just over thinking, though.

 _Nah, she's two-faced. Will be nice to you, but then slags you off behind your back. That sorta girl._ But Louis couldn't lie. "Yeah, she's... she's really nice. A right laugh. Honestly, I think you'll have a great time." Louis smiled. And his performing arts course had definitely come in useful, because Harry looked relieved.

"I'm really nervous." He whispered. "You know, first date since Taylor. I don't know what to do, what to say. What if she doesn't like me? I mean, I don't have much to talk about, do I? It's not too late to cancel, is it? I don't know if I can go through with this. She'll hate me." Harry looked really distressed, he was on the verge of tears. And as much as Louis didn't want him to date anyone that wasn't him, he knew it was never going to happen. And he couldn't stand to see Harry like this.

"Oh, shut up, Harry. You're a great guy. You're sweet, you're kind and caring, you're easy on the eye and you're... funny in your own little way. Honestly, anybody would be lucky to go on a date with you, and if it goes further than one date, than they're the luckiest person in the world. Alright? Now stop doubting yourself!" Louis tried to make it sound more like a pep talk than an  _'I wish I was the one getting to date you'_  speech, but he wasn't sure how it came off.

"You really think I'm funny?" Harry held back his grin, but Louis could see the dimples forming on his cheeks.

" _In our own little way._ That's the important part to remember, here." Louis smirked, and Harry started to chuckle.

"Thanks, Lou."

"What, for babysitting? Or the pep talk"

"For everything." Harry didn't break eye contact with Louis the entire time. "Just... thank you."

"S'alright, love. It's just what I do." Louis shrugged his shoulders, playing it cool, because that's just what he does. If he didn't, he'd be leaning over and kissing Harry right now.

The two of them looked at each other, just staring into each others' eyes for a little while... until Charlie ran over and splashed them both with a bucket of water. The two of them were shocked, the chill of the cold water having completely caught them off guard. Until, in sync, they both jumped to their feet and chased Charlie around the garden, the little lad laughing his head off hysterically.

This was another thing he could get used to. They were like a happy little family.

 

_Harry_

 

When Harry returned home at five to twelve, the TV in the living room was on, but there was nobody there. He kicked off his boots and locked the door behind him, before jogging up stairs. Charlie's bedroom door was open, and he could see the dull light from the bed side lamp shining out into the dark hallway. He slowly crept towards the door, not wanting to disturb his boy, and when he stuck his head through the gap, he couldn't help but smile at the scene he saw.

Charlie was fast asleep on top of his duvet, peaceful and relaxed. And sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, was Louis, flat out with his head resting at an awkward angle, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire open on his lap. Harry had been reading the Harry Potter stories to him, and they'd just finished the third installment the night before, so he probably pestered Louis to make a start on the fourth.

The thing that made Harry smile the most, however, was that he'd noticed that the beaded bracelet Louis wore around his wrist - a gift from Niall, when he went on holiday to Turkey when they were twelve - was now around Charlie's wrist. Louis had never taken it off, before, he'd told Harry this. But he'd let Charlie wear it, and it just touched Harry, got him right in the heart. He knew how much Charlie loved Louis the Elf, and he knew that Louis loved being around kids and that he really came to life when he could make a child laugh or smile, but he never realised just how much he loved Charlie. And knowing that one of his best mates cared so much for his son, that he'd given him a bracelet that had meant so much to him, it made him feel so happy; he was overjoyed. He couldn't remember the last time he felt like this.

But despite all that, he couldn't help but think that if he didn't get Louis to bed, he'd have a really sore neck in the morning.

Harry slowly tip-toed his way across the room until he met Louis, and he crouched down to pick up the book from his lap. As he did so, however, Louis woke up, the heavy book being removed enough to disrupt his sleep. Louis blinked his eyes a couple of times, slowly lifting his head up from the bed - and wincing from the pain of being lay at such an awkward angle, as Harry expected.

"W-what time is it?" Louis whispered, holding back a yawn.

"Midnight." Harry replied, placing the book back onto the bookcase. He stood up tall and offered his hands out to help Louis to his feet.

"Oh. How was your date?" Louis mumbled, and Harry knew he was still half asleep. He reached out for Harry's hands and Harry pulled the younger boy up, and the two walked out of the bedroom.

"It was good. Plan on seeing her again soon." Harry said, smiling. And it was true, he had a nice time. He figured he'd need more than just one date to decide if he really liked her or not, though, but that was what dates were for, anyway.

"You deserve to be happy." Louis mumbled, and he was barely able to keep his eyes open. "Where are my shoes? And keys? I don't have my keys." Louis said, patting the pockets of his jean shorts.

"It's okay, we'll find them in the morning." Harry said, sliding a hand around Louis' waist and leading him towards Harry's bedroom.

"But how am I supposed to go home without them?" Louis asked, and Harry grinned.

"It's too late to leave now, spend the night." Harry said, pushing open his bedroom door. He switched on the light and walked over to the wardrobe, where he removed his jacket and hung it up on a coat hanger. As he looked back to Louis, he was standing rather awkwardly. "The spare room is a mess - been organising, it's got boxes everywhere. So you can take my bed." Harry said, unbuttoning his shirt.

"Where will you sleep?"

"Living room, on the sofa."

Louis shook his head. "Nah, can't have that. I'll sleep there."

And this time, Harry shook his head. "With how stiff your neck is from your little nap with Charlie, you're gonna need a night in a good bed. I don't mind sleeping downstairs."

"I'm not having you sleep on the sofa. It's your house!" Louis argued.

"And I'm not letting you sleep on the sofa." Harry smiled. He knew just how stubborn Louis was, but he owed Louis big time, so this was just a small thing he could do to add to his way of paying him back.

Louis rolled his eyes. "Fine. It's a big bed. We'll both sleep in there." Louis said, folding his arms across his chest. "Deal?"

"Fine. But I'll have you know, I sleep naked." Harry grinned, and Louis looked startled, his eyes widened and his whole face had turned red. "But I suppose I can keep my pants on, just this once." He rolled his eyes, as though it was a chore. Harry placed his shirt into the laundry hamper in his room, before unbuckling his belt and pulling down his jeans. Once he placed them in the hamper, he turned to look at Louis, who was looking down to the bed, wearing his t-shirt and now just his boxers. "If you'd feel more comfortable, I can put on some joggers and a t-shirt or something - or lend you some, too?" Harry asked.

Louis shook his head. "No, it's fine. I'm fine. I was just, uh... I'm tired." Louis shrugged his shoulders.

Harry let out a small smile, before walking over to the bed and switching the lamp on. Louis switched off the bedroom light and the two of them climbed into the bed, laying side by side, a good five inches between them, on Louis' behalf. Harry switched off the lamp once they were settled, and the two lay in silence.

After then minutes, Harry could tell from Louis' breathing that he was still awake. "I was kidding, before, you know."

"About what?" Louis whispered.

"The sleeping naked thing." Harry said. "I mean, not that part, I do sleep naked. But I don't actually mind keeping my pants on." He laughed to himself, and he could tell, even without seeing his face, that Louis had a small smile on his lips.

"Just didn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything." Louis mumbled.

"I'm always comfortable around you. I know I can be myself around you. I just figured that things might get a little awkward if we've both seen each other naked." Harry laughed.

"But it's fine for you to have seen me naked?" Louis questioned, and Harry could hear the smirk.

"You are the one with a  _beautiful cock_ , right, Boo Bear?" Harry grinned, and Louis actually let out a gasp.

"Who told you about Boo Bear?!" He whisper-shouted.

"If I told you, I'd have to kiss you." Harry replied, and Louis chuckled.

"It's  _kill_ you. Not kiss you." Louis corrected through his giggles.

"I know, but I didn't like saying that when I was little, so I changed it." Harry replied. And Louis laughed again.

"You're something else, Styles. Something else."

Harry was proud of that, if he was honest.

"Sweet dreams, Boo."

"Shut up, you fool." Louis laughed.

The two of them remained silent for a while, the last sound between them being Louis' laughter. And Harry was perfectly happy knowing that the last thing he did before going to sleep was making Louis laugh.

 

When they both woke up, they were in a tangle of arms and legs, with Harry's head on Louis' chest, and Louis spluttering on a mouth full of hair. Naturally, they both ended up laughing. And Harry was even happier knowing that the first thing he did when he woke up was making Louis laugh.

 

**September 22 2014**

_Louis_

 

"They're going on  _another_ date!" Louis shouted at his phone, making Liam jump at the dining table as he was eating his Shreddies.

"Who?" Liam asked, shoving a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"Harry and Nikki! This is their fifth date. How is this possible?" Louis questioned, but he was obviously talking to himself.

"Well, Harry's a good looking, nice lad, and Nikki's got big tits, an even bigger smile and she's the kind of girl you'd take home to your mum. Well, not  _your_  mum, because she'd have a panic attack because you're gay, but you get the point." Liam shrugged.

Louis rolled his eyes. "I was being rhetorical, Liam. I just don't get it, what does she have that I don't?"

"A vagina." Niall answered, walking into the room in his boxer shorts, scratching his head and yawning.

Liam laughed, and Louis just sulked down into the sofa, staring at his phone, furiously tapping away a response to Harry:  _Get in there, my son ! xxx_

He could hardly tell him what he really felt, now, could he? That would just ruin everything. And if he was honest, he'd much rather Harry in his life as a best mate than not in his life at all.

"What've we got to eat?" Niall asked, looking in the fridge.

"Cereal." Liam said, continuing to eat.

"Except Liam used up the last of the milk, so you can't actually have cereal. Just like I can't have my mornin' cuppa." Louis scowled at Liam over the back of the sofa, but Liam didn't seem to care.

"Fine by me." Niall shrugged, shutting the fridge and grabbing the box of cereal from on top of the kitchen counter, beginning to eat the Shreddies from the box. He moved to the sofa and sat down next to Louis. "Know what you need, mate?"

"No, but I'm sure you're gonna tell me." Louis said, turning to look at Niall.

"A good fuckin'. A nice shag to take your mind off of Harry, the straight guy who isn't gonna sleep with you any time soon." Niall said, calmly, and Louis wanted to punch him, because he's sitting here in love with Harry, and Niall just reduces it to him being horny.

"That's not a bad idea, actually." Liam added, nodding his head in agreement with Niall. "You need to get back out there, meet some new people and stop pining over the straight guy."

Louis sighed, but Niall looked extremely enthusiastic, which was odd. Sure, Niall was constantly happy and he was always a ray of sunshine, but it was ridiculously early, he's never normally smiling this much before eight. "Come on, Lou, let's go out tonight. All of us." Niall said. "We'll go to that club you like, what's it called...?"

"Heaven." Louis muttered.

"Heaven! Yeah, that's the one. You always find someone to pull in there." Niall said.

"And so do you and Liam!" Louis exclaimed, eyebrows raised onto his forehead.

"We can't help it if women and gay men find us irresistible, Louis." Liam said from the kitchen, washing his bowl.

"More so gay men, that's why you're both single." Louis said, pushing himself up to his feet.

"Alright, low blow, mate." Niall shouted with a mouthful of Shreddies.

"Love you guys!" Louis yelled as he walked out of the living room and back upstairs to his bedroom. He had his first class at ten to nine, so he needed to get himself ready. Always had to look good on the first day back.

 

_Harry_

 

_Li and Ni are taking me to Heaven tonight xxx_

Harry raised his eyebrow as he read the text message, taking a bite of his cheese sandwich. He was at work, and had been since half past seven in the morning. He'd been promoted to deputy manager at the nursery, which meant earlier start times. He didn't like having to take Charlie to the school breakfast club, but it meant more money to pay for the divorce and help keep Charlie in a safe, warm home. So, it was a sacrifice he had to make. And Charlie's favourite teacher helped to run the breakfast club, anyway. His name was Mr Bailey, Charlie liked him because he always taught them 'fun things' at school.

"What's Heaven?" Harry asked across the table, chewing his sandwich. He, Perrie and Leigh-Anne were having their dinner together, and it was the first time Harry had been able to check his phone since he arrived at work.

"Controversial dinnertime discussion." Perrie said, waiting for her soup to warm up in the microwave.

"Louis said that Liam and Niall are taking him there tonight, dunno what it is." Harry replied.

"Isn't it a gay club? Isn't that where we went, on Jade's birthday, to watch Aiden Grimshaw?" Leigh-Anne added, picking at her salad with her fork.

"Yeah! Yeah, it was." Perrie looked excited, remembering the night. Harry was originally going to go with them, he remembered being invited. But then Taylor thought it was a little weird to for a man in his mid twenties to be going to a gay club with a group of just-turned-twenty females. And Harry figured she was right. "Guess they're trying to get him laid." She grinned.

"Yeah... guess so." Harry shrugged, typing back a response.  _Why? xxxx_

The microwave pinged, and Perrie let out a little shriek of excitement. "Oh my God, I'm so hungry. Didn't have time for breakfast this morning."

"Oh yeah? And why's that?" Leigh-Anne started, wiggling her eyebrows.

Perrie grinned and smirked, joining her co-workers at the table. "Because... I was busy."

"Busy riding Zayn." Leigh-Anne said in a joyful tone.

Harry scoffed, rolling his eyes. "As if, come on, Leigh-Anne." He started, and she turned to look at him, a little surprised by Harry's tone. "Everyone knows that Zayn prefers to be on top. His hair doesn't get messy that way." He grinned, and Leigh-Anne began howling with laughter.

Perrie buried her head in her hands. "I'd slap you, but you're right." She chuckled, and Harry grinned. He'd been best friends with Zayn since they were little, he knew him too well.

"I'm glad things are going well with you two, though. For real, you make him so happy." Harry said, and Perrie's face lit up.

"Aw, thanks, babe." She said, blowing on her soup to cool it down.

"But forget about her and Zayn, they're old news!" Leigh-Anne sneered. "Tell me about you and Nikki! What's the sitch, bitch?"

"Alright, Kim Possible, take it easy." Perrie snarled, which caused Harry to let out loud laugh.

"Shut up. Seriously, Haz, what's going on?" Leigh-Anne questioned.

Harry shrugged his shoulders, pondering the question. They'd been on four dates, and had planned yet another date for Tuesday night, since Zayn and Perrie wanted to take Charlie bowling (Harry figured it was because Perrie wanted to assess how well Zayn interacted with children, just planning for their future). But if he was honest with himself, he was still indecisive. She was a lovely woman, but he just didn't know if she was the one for him. He just didn't feel like they had that spark between them, that he first had with Taylor. And he knew that he couldn't compare them, but really, he had nothing else to compare it to.

"Well, we're going on our fifth date tomorrow night."

"Your fifth date? Have you slept with her, yet?" Leigh-Anne asked.

"Leigh!" Perrie shouted, completely gobsmacked by her outburst.

"What? I'm just asking!" She responded, before turning to look to Harry. "So, have you?"

Harry felt his cheeks burning up. "No, not yet."

"Not  _yet?_  So you want to?" She asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, she's nice. And she is a beautiful girl, I'd be questioning myself as a man if I didn't want to sleep with her." He mumbled. He didn't know why, but he felt a little... uncomfortable giving that answer. And he'd never really been afraid of talking to two of his mates about this stuff before. It was... weird.

"I'd do her." Perrie shrugged, dipping some bread into her soup and eating it. "She's hot."

"So hot." Leigh-Anne agreed.

Harry laughed, and the two girls continued talking. But Harry lost track when he saw the screen on his phone light up, seeing Louis' name appear. He picked his phone up from the table and read the message.

_They ganged up on me, think I need to meet a good guy and get some action ! not that i'm complainin it has been a while xxxx_

And then,

_Through choice obviously, i'm like a dick magnet xxxx_

Harry chuckled out loud, and before he realised it, he heard Leigh-Anne's voice.

"Dick magnet, huh?" She smirked.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Shut up, stop taking the piss." He defended Louis, since he wasn't there to defend himself.

"It doesn't surprise me." Perrie added to the conversation. "Actually a shame he's gay, because I'd be on it."

"Have you seen your boyfriend? They don't get much better than him, babes." Leigh-Anne retorted, and Perrie nodded in casual agreement. "Those cheekbones, oh my God."

"Louis' cheekbones would give Zayn a run for his money, though." Harry didn't know why he came out with that, but he did. It was like - what was that term Lindsay Lohan used? Word vomit! It was like word vomit, he just couldn't help himself. The two girls turned to look at him, both with puzzled expressions on their faces. "What? I'm just saying..." He mumbled.

He saw both girls look towards each other, exchanging a weird expression, before going back to eating their dinner. Harry figured that now would be the best time to reply to Louis.

_Well good luck, although I'm sure you won't need it xxxx_

And he was definitely sure that he wouldn't need it. Louis was a catch, and Harry thought you'd have to be blind to not see it.

 

_Louis_

 

"I had no idea Union J were playing here tonight!" Niall shouted over the music.

"Me neither, never seen this place so busy!" Louis said back as they waited in the queue of sweaty bodies at the bar.

It was half eleven, and Louis was already feeling pretty drunk from all the pre-drinks. Liam had to hold him up straight whilst they were in the line, and when they got patted down for any weapons (it was London, after all) upon entering the club, Louis winked at the security guard and told him that he'd meet him around the back in fifteen minutes if he wanted a thorough inspection.

"Isn't one of them gay?" Liam asked Louis.

"Just because  _I'm_ gay, Liam, it doesn't mean I know every gay guy!" Louis rolled his eyes, and Liam looked insulted that Louis misinterpreted his question. It was then that someone bumped into them at the bar, and when Louis turned to look - ready to scald the guy - his face lit up. "Lucas! You alright, love?" The two exchanged a quick hug and a peck on the lips, before Lucas carried on walking to the toilets, which was where he was headed before he tripped and bumped into Louis and Liam.

When he left, Louis looked back to Liam, noting that he had a smug expression on his face. "What? Just because I know one gay guy, doesn't mean I know them all." He rolled his eyes again, and Liam just laughed.

 

Twenty minutes later, they were in the middle of the dance floor, already three drinks down. Liam had bought the first two rounds, since he'd won twenty quid on a scratch card earlier on in the day. And the third round was bought by some random drunk guy called Josh who said he'd get them all a drink if he could see Niall's nipples. And Niall being Niall said that if he got them all a shot each, he could lick his nipples. It worked. Liam looked mortified, but Louis was positive that Niall was just a little bit turned on. He never knew nipple play was Niall's thing until now. No wonder he never moaned at all the nipple twists in the changing rooms at high school.

"See anyone you like?" Niall shouted, before dropping his plastic shot glass on the floor.

"Nah, not yet." Louis shrugged, glancing around.

"What about him, over there?" Liam said, nodding his head to the left. Both Niall and Louis looked, and at the same time, their faces dropped.

"Nah." Niall said.

"Sure he has a bubbly personality." Louis quipped, and Niall cackled.

Liam pouted his lips. "Sorry." He muttered, taking a sip of his drink.

 

Another twenty minutes had passed by, and Louis was at the bar. Niall had bought his round, so it was Louis' turn. He was leaning over the counter, waiting to get noticed, when he felt someone rubbing up against his arse, in sync with the music. Louis couldn't deny that it felt good, he enjoyed it. After a few seconds of grinding, he looked over his shoulder to look who it was. The guy was tall and blonde, tanned and muscular. Not Louis' usual type.  _Not Harry._  But he was definitely easy on the eye. And since Harry didn't seem to care about the fact Louis was out tonight in an attempt to pull - and actually encouraged him to do it - then Louis thought,  _fuck it_.

Louis pushed his arse back against the guy's crotch, adding to the pleasure he was feeling, and definitely adding to the pleasure of the blonde. Because duh, his arse was out of this world, of course it'd be adding to his pleasure.

The blonde guy leaned over Louis, resting his head on Louis' shoulder. "I'm James. What are you having?"

"Louis. Vodka and Red Bull for me... and two vodka and coke's for my mates." He winked, biting his lip. James smirked back, and Louis figured that if he would buy the drinks for his mates, he might as well give him a chance. After all, he did have rhythm, and Louis liked that.

 

James bought the drinks, even made them all doubles, and personally handed the drinks to Liam and Niall. He made the mistake of asking if they were together, but Louis could understand where he was coming from - two guys dancing alone to Britney Spears' Hold It Against Me in a gay club. It was an easy mistake to make, really. They all stood together as a foursome for a while, dancing in a square and all having a laugh with each other - James' hand never leaving Louis' waist.  _Possessive, dominant._  Louis liked that. James seemed like a great guy, he joined in with the banter and he seemed to appreciate Louis' sense of humour almost as much as he appreciated his arse.

 

Ten or fifteen minutes passed, and the DJ announced that Union J would be taking to the stage in fifteen minutes time, which got everyone pumped up. Liam and Niall went to the bar for the next round. And it was like all he needed for his best friends to leave for a bit for him to let out his inner stripper - he was grinding up against James' crotch, trying to get a good feel with his arse of what he was working with. And if he was honest, he was impressed.

Louis turned around so that he was face to face with James, and before he knew it, James had one hand on Louis' arse, the other wrapped around his neck and pulling him in closer, roughly and sloppily kissing him. Louis couldn't complain about the mess of the kissing, because his tongue was all over the place, as well. But that's just what vodka did to him, which was why it was his choice of drink for the night. A couple of vodka's, and he was gone. Cheap night, right? James pulled Louis' body closer to him, one of Louis' thighs rubbing against James' semi-hard cock, and that feeling alone had made Louis' cock throb.

Louis didn't know how much more he could take. The idea was a quick shag, a quick bit of relief to try and get his mind off of Harry. And sure, this had been pretty quick, so far. But the thing was, if he didn't take care of this now, then he'd be insanely hard whilst Union J were performing, and he wanted no distractions for that.

There was only one solution, really.

"Toilets?" Louis asked as he pulled away from the kiss. James looked a little surprised, but the look in his eye told Louis all that he needed to know. Louis took his hand and quickly lead him off of the dance floor and into the toilets. They were pretty much empty, which Louis was pleased about. He pushed James into one of the cubicles, and locked the door behind them. James had already unbuckled his belt by the time Louis had turned around from locking the door.

Louis tugged hard on James' jeans, pulling them down, and admiring the view of James' hard cock through his white boxer briefs. Louis licked his lips, getting down to his knees and palming over James' cock, before leaning in and pressing a kiss to it, just to tease him. It worked, he felt James' cock pulse and Louis knew he wanted it. He tucked his fingers into the waist band of James' underwear and pulled them down, his cock springing out. Louis bit his lip, glancing up to James, who was looking down to Louis and admiring the scene.

Louis wrapped his hand around the shaft of James' hard dick, slowly pulling back the foreskin. James let out a soft moan, just from the contact of Louis' hand, and Louis couldn't wait to hear the moaning when he actually got to work.

He leaned in and slowly took the head of James' cock into his mouth, his tongue licking the underneath, his lips wrapped around tight. James groaned, and Louis saw that as his cue to start pumping his hand, slowly. He took more of James' cock into his mouth, his hand working him, increasing the pace. Louis glanced up to James, his eyes were in the back of his head, and he was biting his lip, clearly trying not to make too much noise in case they get caught.

Louis wasn't going to stand for that.

He took his free hand and squeezed James' arse. Hard. He moved his hand from James' shaft and began to massage his balls, and took more of James' cock into his mouth, the head hitting the back of his throat.

"Ah, fuck!" James moaned, just a bit louder than a whisper. It wasn't the first time Louis had gotten sound from someone who was trying to be quiet, he knew exactly what to do. Louis bobbed his head up and down on James' cock, his tongue licking furiously on the underside of his shaft each time he did it. James' breathing got heavier, his moaning got louder.

Louis felt like a God every single time he cracked someone who tried to be quiet.

"I'm gonna cum." He moaned out, when Louis had swallowed the head of his cock down the back of his throat. Louis slid his cock out of his mouth, sticking his tongue out. He wrapped a hand tightly around James' dick, rubbing and pumping, waiting for his cum. He was a good boy, he knew James wanted to cum in his mouth, he knew he wanted to see Louis swallow.

And he was going to.

Louis watched James' reaction, waited for him to show any sign of him about to blow. And when he saw James' eyes roll back into his head, he knew it was going to happen soon. He moved his hand faster, and before he was expecting, James' shot his load. All over Louis' face. Luckily, Louis' closed his eyes just in time, or that would have been a disaster. But his entire face was covered in cum, and hardly any of it went into his mouth.

"Fuck, Louis, that was amazing." James exhaled, once he'd come down from his high. He looked down to Louis, who was looking at him with just one eye open. James wiped his fingers over Louis' face, picking up some of the cum, before sticking them into Louis' mouth. "Suck." He ordered, and who was Louis to disobey? He sucked the cum off of James' fingers, before James pulled his pants back up, and his jeans, and buckled up. Louis slowly stood up to his feet.

"Your turn." He grinned, unbuckling his belt.

"Nah, sorry babe, don't wanna miss the band." James said, pushing his way past Louis to unlock the door. He walked out, leaving Louis alone, face covered in cum, in disbelief.

Did that really just fucking happen? Did he really just get fucking used like that? He was furious. He felt betrayed. He felt used. He felt dirty. He had this prick's cum all over his face, no wonder he felt that way. His mood was completely ruined. He just wanted to go home, shower, get into bed and go to sleep.

Louis buckled his belt up once again, before walking to the sink and splashing water on his face, getting rid of the cum that was left. He grabbed some paper towels to dry his face, and left the toilet. As he walked out, Union J were already part way through a song. But he genuinely couldn't care less. He stood on the outskirts of the dance floor, looking for Niall and Liam.

They found him, first, coming at him from the side. They both had puzzled expressions on their faces.

"Lou, were were you? You've missed Carry You!" Niall shouted, looking ashamed that Louis' missed the bands first single.

"And Niall drank your drink." Liam added.

Louis didn't care, though. "I wanna go home." He said.

"What? Why?" Niall asked.

"Just do." Louis responded, short and sharp.

"Where's James?" Niall asked, clearly knowing that there was more to it than Louis just simply changing his mind.

"And... what's in your hair?" Liam asked, his face screwed up.

Louis furrowed his brow, bringing a hand up and patting his fringe until he felt something wet and sticky. Shit. Fucking shit. He had cum in his hair. He felt his face burn up, he felt worse than dirty, he felt absolutely disgusting. He had never been used like that before.

"I  _don't_ want to talk about it! Now, either you two leave with me, or I'm fucking going by myself." Lou snapped, enraged. He barged past Niall and Liam, storming to the exit.

He just wanted to go home. When he got outside, he waited for a few seconds, and Niall and Liam weren't there. Were they actually going to leave him? Louis never wanted to go home early. Never. He loved being out, he loved getting drunk and dancing. And he never wanted to leave early. So the fact that he left early, and they didn't bother to come to him, that was it. He was livid.

Louis stormed off, grabbing his wallet from his pocket. He opened it up and saw that he didn't have enough money for a taxi, so night bus it was. He walked over to the bus stop near Trafalgar Square, and waited for the bus.

He just wanted to forget that tonight had happened. He just wanted to go home and wipe the night out of his mind. He wanted to be get into his PJ's, get a box of Maltesers, watch Grease and cuddle.

With Harry. He wanted Harry.

 

(Louis felt quite bad the next morning when he woke up and saw that he had seven missed calls and two voicemails from Niall and Liam.

"Louis, mate, are you home? Let me know you're safe, just at the A&E with Ni.", Liam's voicemail said. And that had Louis panic.

He noted the time of the second one - four hours later - from Niall.

"Lou, mate, just comin' home now. Hope you're there. Some feckin' bellend lobbed a glass, the thing smashed and I've only gone and got me a huge gash on my arm. Needed stitches and everythin'! Will show you later."

He honestly couldn't have felt like a bigger knobhead if he tried).

 

**September 24 2014**

_Harry_

 

Louis never replied to Harry's text messages yesterday, which Harry found to be quite weird. Sent no Snapchats, either, which was definitely something that Louis always sent. He didn't like to admit it, but he took more selfies than he should do. Harry didn't mind, though. He actually had an album on his phone just for Louis' selfies. So, the fact that Louis hadn't sent him any, it was a bit strange.

It was half seven, and Harry had just finished reading Order of the Phoenix to Charlie as he'd put him to bed, and he stayed in the room with him until he fell asleep. He walked into his room, changed out of his clothes and slipped into something more comfortable - which was just a pair of loose fitting shorts, because even though it was nearing the end of September, it was still really quite warm. He walked down stairs and into the kitchen, poured himself a glass of red wine and was just about to settle down and watch some TV when he heard a knock at the door.

 _Great,_  he thought to himself. He placed his wine down and stood up, making his way to the door. When he opened it, however, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Louis!" He gasped, shocked but excited to see him.

Louis was stood at the front door, but he didn't look as happy as he normally did. Usually, he was all smiles and would have greeted Harry with a hug or a joke or something like that by now. But instead, he just stood there, quiet and reserved, almost curled into himself. Harry had never seen Louis like this before. He didn't like seeing Louis like this, it was a horrible thing to see.

"Lou, what's wrong?" Harry asked, instantly reaching out to take Louis' hand into his.

"You give good cuddles. Can I have a cuddle?" He mumbled, and Harry instantly stepped forward and wrapped his arms tightly around Louis, pulling him in close. He had no idea why Louis was upset, but he didn't like it.

"What's wrong, Lou, what's up?" Harry whispered into Louis' neck, but Louis remained quiet, arms wrapped around Harry's shoulders, just resting against him.

They stayed there, at the front door, for a good five minutes, just hugging each other. It was eventually Louis who pulled away and asked if they could go inside, which Harry obviously had no problem with. Louis went and sat on the sofa, whilst Harry walked to the kitchen and poured him a glass of wine - bringing the bottle into the living room. He set the wine down on the coffee table, before sitting next to Louis and opening his arms for Louis to cuddle him, once again.

Louis did, resting his head on Harry's chest and wrapping his arms around his waist.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to. But... I'd just like to know. I might be able to help. Can I help?" Harry spoke softly and quietly, and Louis just let out a little sigh.

"It's stupid." He mumbled.

"It's not stupid! If it's upsetting you, it's not stupid at all."

"It makes me feel stupid, I feel stupid being upset about this." He carried on, and Harry could sense the hurt in his voice.

Harry moved one of his hands and brushed it through Louis' hair, moving his hair out of his face. "Lou, you're not stupid. If something has upset you, you have every right to be upset and you don't need to feel stupid about it."

Louis didn't say anything after that. He just rested nuzzled his head into Harry's chest again, shuffling his body closer, so Harry followed his lead and held him tighter. He wanted to comfort him, he wanted to cheer him up and make him happy again, because Louis deserved to be happy.

 

About half an hour had passed, and neither had moved. Neither had said a word. They just sat in silence, cuddled together, watching TV. The thing was, Harry wasn't even concentrating on what was happening on the telly. He couldn't, he was too worried about Louis. Anything that could make this boy this upset and this quiet was definitely something worth worrying about, Harry thought. But Harry knew Louis, he knew that Louis wouldn't tell him until he was ready, so he wasn't going to push him into telling him.

 

Another half an hour, and they'd only spoke just a little bit. Harry asked Louis if he wanted anything, and Louis just said "you". He went bright red after it, Harry noticed, and only went on to hide his face even more from Harry. But Harry knew what he meant, even if it didn't come out right. He knew Louis just meant that he wanted Harry to comfort him. And Harry was going to give him just that, because that's what his best friend needed. He'd give him anything that he wanted, if he was honest.

"I got used for a quick blowjob." Louis blurted out, whilst Friends was on a break.

"Sorry?" Harry asked, quietly.

"When Niall and Liam took me out." Louis muttered into Harry's chest. "There was this guy, James. He was really nice to me, we got on and had a laugh. Even Niall and Liam got on with him, which doesn't happen that often when I meet someone. But, we were getting on really well. And I was drunk, and, yeah, I was horny. And it was my fault. I was the one who took him to the toilets and everything. But I just thought that... he let me suck his cock, then he came all over my face and left." Louis rushed the last part of his sentence, so Harry figured he was quite embarrassed to say that to him. But Harry wasn't embarrassed at all, if he was honest. "At first I thought that was the thing that upset me. I thought that I was upset 'cause this guy thought that this guy didn't care enough to suck me off, like I did with him, you know? But I started to think about it, right, and I realised that... people must see me as nothing more than just a guy who is good for a quick blowjob in the toilets, know what I mean? He didn't want to give me the same. He didn't want to stick around after and get to know me. He just... used me to cum, and then he left. He didn't want to stick around and get to know me. And it just made me realise... am I that bad of a person? Am I not a nice guy or something? Am I only good for sex and nothing else? Do I have nothing more to give?"

Harry could hear Louis' voice breaking, he could hear him trying to fight back his tears, and he figured that he'd use Louis' pause in the conversation to step in and intervene.

"Louis, babe, you're so much better than that - you have so much more to give than just sex, alright? You are the sweetest, funniest, most amazing person that I have ever met. And I truly mean that. That guy? Forget about him, he's a dickhead. And you definitely don't need a guy like him making you feel bad about yourself. You are twice the man that he could ever even think about being. Honestly, you have so much more to give, more than that wanker deserves. And any man would be lucky to have you."

Louis was actually crying now. Just a few small tears, not enough to make him actually sob, but just a few tears escaping his eyes. Harry only knew this because he could feel the wetness on his bare chest.

"Then how come no man wants me? If I'm so amazing, like you said, how come no one wants me, Harry?" Louis muttered, voice broken and quiet.

"Because most men are arseholes. Women don't say that for the sake of it, you know. It's true, for the most part. Straight, or gay. It doesn't matter. What does matter is you. You are amazing, Louis, and I meant it when I said it. I have never, ever, met anyone as brilliant as you are. Everything about you. Your sense of humour, your kind and caring attitude, your positive approach to life - all of that, down to the small stuff. The way that you're so friendly with Charlie. I mean, you started re-reading the Harry Potter books at the same time as us just so he could have someone else to talk to them about! And the way that you mime every single word when you watch Grease." Louis let out a small, soundless laugh at that, and Harry knew he was on the way to making him cheer up. "These are the things that people are missing out on, and these are the things that those people don't deserve. They don't deserve you, because you are the most... astonishing man in the world."

Louis slowly lifted his head up from Harry's chest, eyes puffy, red and wet, cheeks blotchy, but the smallest smile on his lips. It was at that point that Harry realised he never told Louis how beautiful he was, either. But he figured that Louis didn't need to be told how beautiful he was on the outside, what he needed at this moment in time was to realise just how beautiful he was on the inside, also.

"Thank you." He whispered.

Harry leaned down and pressed a kiss to Louis' forehead, smiling at him. "And besides, you have always got me. I am always here for you, no matter what." Louis' smile grew even bigger, and Harry still loved knowing that he had the ability to make Louis smile like that. It made him feel special, because to be responsible for making Louis' face look like that, it was amazing. His face was designed for smiling, Harry had no doubt about that. "I love you, Louis."

"I love you, too, Harry." Louis replied, before leaning his head on Harry's chest again.

They stayed like that for the rest of the night. Mostly because Louis had fallen asleep, and Harry didn't have it in him to wake him up and disturb him from his slumber. He figured he needed a good sleep, and even though he wouldn't be the most comfortable, sleeping on Harry, at least he had the comfort of knowing he was curled up with someone who loved him and cared for him.

And Harry really did care for Louis, probably more than Louis would ever know.

 

**October 17 2014**

_Harry_

 

"Look at this Snapchat Louis sent me!" Harry said, a huge grin on his face, twisting his phone around to show Zayn. The photo was just a selfie that Louis had taken when he'd gotten out of bed in the morning, his hair sticking up all over the place with the caption, 'fuck me this is a disaster'.

Zayn chuckled a little bit, shaking his head. "He seems like a cool lad." He said, once he'd stopped laughing.

"He is, he's hilarious. He has me laughing all the time, he's so funny. And he's really nice. Charlie loves him, too. Proper loves him." Harry said, smiling widely. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't help but smile when he talked about Louis. "Like, he's so good with him. Like last week, when Charlie was just... not listening to me, and was playing up all the time, I mentioned it to Lou and do you know what he did?" Zayn shook his head, leaning forward and picking up his cup of coffee from the table in front of them. "He came home, put on his Elf costume and spoke to Charlie, telling him that Santa is always watching throughout the year and that he sends his elves out to keep an eye on the children! And Charlie's been brill ever since. Honestly, that man is a saint. I don't know what I'd do without him." Harry smiled, once again.

He looked back down to his phone, checking the time. It had just turned six, and Harry knew that Louis would probably be getting ready for a night out with the lads. He took a selfie, angling his phone so that Zayn was in the background, and captioned the photo, 'cheeky cuppa with Zayn after work', followed by several smiling emoji's.

He knew Louis would appreciate it. He never drank tea all that much until he became friends with Louis, and now he was drinking tea all the time. Yorkshire tea, obviously, because Louis said it was the best.

"He sounds like a really great guy." Zayn said, placing his coffee down.

"He is." Harry responded, without missing a beat. Zayn actually looked rather taken back by the quickness of his response.

" _Alright_." Zayn said, eyebrows raised. Harry furrowed his brows, unsure why Zayn made that comment.

He picked up his tea, taking a sip, when Perrie walked through the front door. She had worked the late shift tonight, with the manager of the day nursery, so Harry could have a Friday night to himself, since Gemma was babysitting Charlie.

"Hey babes." She said, placing her bag down and walking over to Zayn, leaning over the back of the sofa and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Harry, wasn't expecting to see you." She added.

"Thought I'd nip in and see Zayn, since I'd not seen him for a while." Harry said, having another drink.

"Well, I'm glad." Perrie started. "Because I've got a bone to pick with you." Perrie walked around and sat herself down on Zayn's knee, looking directly at Harry. She had that look in her eye, the one she had when she had to deal with a challenging toddler at work and had to put them straight (she always said that Harry was too soft on the children, and he probably was, so she was often used as a threat when they would talk with the older ones if they had misbehaved).

"Oh, no, you're in for it, now, mate." Zayn said, and Perrie gave him an elbow in the chest - not hard enough to hurt him properly, but hard enough to let him know that she's not messing around.

"I've just had Nikki on the phone, on the walk home. On the verge of tears, saying that you told her you didn't want any more dates with her." Perrie complained.

Harry just sighed, glancing down to his lap. He didn't want to look at Perrie or Zayn right now, because he knew that they would both be disappointed in him.

"I don't understand, I thought you two were getting on really well! I thought you liked her." Perrie carried on, and Harry was feeling bad. He felt awful, actually. But how could he not?

"Mate, what's up? Why'd you end things?" Zayn asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "She told me she thought she was falling for me." Harry grumbled. "And... I don't feel the same about her. I was... I just liked her as a friend, I couldn't get myself to like her. I couldn't do it. And I wanted to, you know? I really did. I wanted to make her happy, but I just... I could have lied, and I could have faked it and kept this thing going on, knowing that I wasn't happy, that I wasn't going to love her, and that she was only going to fall for me, properly, and... It's best for her, in the long run. 'Cause now she can go and find someone else to make her happy, someone else who can love her like she'll love them. She's just not the right person for me."

Harry slowly turned his head to look towards Perrie and Zayn, and, much to his surprise, they both looked so understanding. Perrie looked to be on the verge of tears, herself. Harry was only doing what was best for Nikki, because he wanted her to be happy. And even if she wasn't happy with their relationship ending, she'd be happier in the future with it ending now, at this stage, without it going too far down the line.

"Are you still in love with Taylor or something?" Perrie asked, and Zayn turned his head to look towards her, almost in shock that she'd asked that. "It's just, Nikki is perfect. I just don't get it. I don't get how you couldn't be falling for her."

"She's just... not what I want, she's not the kind of person I want to be with, I guess." Harry shrugged again.

"Well if she's not the kind of person you want to be with, who is the kind of person you want to be with?" Perrie questioned, and Harry felt like he was getting the third degree. He had never been so intensely questioned in his entire life, he was sure of it.

"I dunno, just... someone who is nice, and caring and... someone who can make me laugh and is good with Charlie. And Charlie has to like them, obviously. But... I dunno, she just wasn't the one for me." Harry muttered, reaching for his tea and taking a sip - something to distract him from the conversation.

"Babe, could you just grab my phone charger? It's upstairs." Zayn asked Perrie. She turned to look at him, clearly not wanting to do it, but he pouted his lips. And Harry knew that whenever Zayn pouted his lips, Perrie did anything he wanted. She groaned and stood up and walked towards the stairs. Once she was gone from the room, Zayn looked towards Harry and whispered. "My charger isn't upstairs."

"Then why did y-"

"Did you not hear what you just said?" Zayn asked, shuffling closer to Harry, looking bewildered.

"What are you on about?" Harry responded.

" _Someone who is nice, and makes me laugh and Charlie has to like them._  You just fucking described Louis, mate. You described Louis." Zayn stated, a rather - as Harry would call it - deranged expression on his face. And he had to be deranged to believe that.

"What are you talking about?" Harry was baffled. Louis?  _Really?_

"Come on, Harry, you literally just told me that Louis has all of these nice qualities, and then you went and said that's what you're looking for in a relationship? You want Louis!" Zayn whisper-shouted at Harry, but Harry just could not believe it.

"Did you put whiskey in your coffee or something? Come on, man. Sure, Louis is all of them things, but he has one thing that I'm not really into... a dick! I'm not gay! I was married to Taylor! I've never had sex with a guy, I've never been turned on by a guy, I've never kissed a guy. I am not into guys." Harry defended.

"Don't knock it 'til you try it, all I'm saying." Zayn shrugged, all cool and calm, like this was nothing - like he didn't just accuse Harry of being gay for his best friend. "I'm just saying, you and Louis get on like a house on fire. He's everything you want in a relationship, and it's quite obvious, really."

"It's not obvious at all, shut up, you're wrong. You're so wrong. I don't love Louis. Not like that."

"I never said you loved him. That was you." Zayn said, eyebrow raised, the corner of his mouth twisting into a smirk.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Shut up, you know what I mean." He still couldn't believe it. He wasn't gay, but that wasn't even the main issue on Harry's mind. It was the fact that Zayn believed Harry and Louis were meant to be together - in a relationship together! It was ridiculous.

Thankfully for Harry, Perrie came bouncing down the stairs, a confused expression on her face.

"Can't find your charger anywhere." She muttered, walking over and taking her seat back on Zayn's lap.

Harry quickly drank the rest of his tea. "Right, well, I'd better be going, now. Got a long night of watching Gossip Girl on Netflix ahead of me."

Zayn chuckled. "Gossip Girl? You  _sure_ you're not..."

"I'm sure, Zayn." Harry hissed as he stood up, taking his mug into the kitchen. He placed it in the sink, before walking back to his friends in the living room.

It wasn't until he got back into the living room that he noticed Perrie had moved from sitting across Zayn's lap to have mounted him, leaning down and kissing his neck. He grinned at the sight, shaking his head a little.

"I'll see myself out. Happy fucking." He smirked, proud of himself, as he grabbed his jacket and bag from the chair and quickly headed towards the front door, leaving quietly, not to disturb Zayn and Perrie.

 

**December 22 2014**

_Harry_

 

Harry had everything he needed for Charlie, this Christmas time. He had - somehow - managed to become super organised ahead of time, for the first Christmas in his whole entire life. Usually Christmas just came and went and he didn't even realise it. But this year, he wanted to get everything sorted on time, so he could spend the build up to Christmas with Charlie, not leaving him with anyone of his organised friends so he could go and buy his presents.

The only thing was, though, he hadn't got to spend much time with Louis. This was the first Christmas that he and Louis had been actual friends with each other, so he didn't realise just how much he worked at the shopping centre as an elf. Louis had told him that this was his last year working there - or at least, he hoped it was, as by July, he would have graduated from his Performing Arts degree, and he was hoping to have some kind of full time performing job. And Harry knew he would make it big, some day. He just knew.

But since he didn't get to spend much time with Louis outside of work, he figured he'd go and visit him in work. That was one of the perks of Louis working in a public place, Harry could just turn up as a paying customer, and nobody could stop him. He'd text Louis in the morning and told him that he was bringing Charlie down, so he wasn't at all surprised when he was stood in the middle of the queue and could see Louis eagerly looking out to the crowd of people.

And then when Louis eventually saw Harry, when he was closer to the front, he saw Louis' eyes widen in shock, Louis staring up towards his hair.

"Not a fan?" Harry asked, shyly, clearly referring to the the bun he'd tied his curls up into.

"Are you kidding? I love it." Louis said, a smile spreading on his face. "You should tie your hair up more often." Louis said, nodding, before he turned to look down to Charlie. "And how are you, little man? Hope you're on Santa's good list!"

Charlie grinned. "I hope so! Daddy said I might not be if I keep playing tricks on him." He started to giggle, and Louis crouched down in front of him.

"What've you been doing, Charles?" Louis asked, tilting his head to the side and widening his eyes, waiting for Charlie to answer.

"I put salt in the sugar pot, so daddy put salt in his tea." Charlie giggled even more, cheeks turning red.

Louis bit his lip and looked up to Harry, who had a little pout on his face. He wasn't impressed when his morning tea did not taste good. Louis started to laugh. "I'm sure daddy didn't like that, did you, daddy?" He asked, looking up to Harry.

If he didn't know any better, Harry would have sworn he had a weird, flippy feeling in his stomach when he saw Louis looking at him. Just remembering the taste of that tea, clearly. It was gross. "I definitely did not. But that's not even all of it. Hiding my car keys, changing the time on all of the clocks in the house so I was late for work."

"And hiding his shoes." Charlie added, through his laughter.

Louis laughed again. "You hid his shoes?" He asked Charlie, who nodded.

"Oh, not both of the shoes, though. Just the right shoe. Of every pair I own." Harry said, pursing his lips and shaking his head, slightly.

Louis held his hand up for a high five. "Looks like I've got a little partner in crime." He said, as Charlie slapped his hand. Louis looked up to Harry, who tilted his head to the side and looked to Louis, giving him  _the_ look, that he used on the children at work.

Louis sighed, this time, acting like it was a chore, but Harry knew he was just messing around. "Although you shouldn't be messing your dad around like that, bud. Santa won't like that. And I'm the master of tricks - think you'd be alright leaving it to me to trick your dad?"

Charlie nodded his head. "Okay, Louis."

Louis smiled, giving Charlie a hug. Charlie looked delighted, he really did love Louis. Although Harry's not surprised, everybody loved Louis. Louis stood up and looked to Harry.

"Happy, now?" He asked, a fake tone of displeasure in his voice.

"You're so good with him, Lou. Honestly, you really are like a second dad, or someth-.. I dunno." Harry shrugged, as Louis glanced down to the floor and then back up to Harry.

The two of them both sort of remained quiet after that, but Harry couldn't figure out why. But thankfully, the silence wasn't for much longer, as one of the Elves who worked with Louis popped his head out of the door to Santa's grotto. "Santa's ready to see you, now!" They said in a delightful tone, and Charlie became really excited. He bounced over to the door, looking forward to seeing Santa, and Harry laughed, following him. As he got to the door, he looked towards Lou.

"What time do you finish?" He asked.

"Half four."

"Ah. You up to anything tonight? Tasha from work gave me tickets to the pantomime. Her little girl is sick so they aren't going anymore, and I've got a spare..." Harry said, and he saw Louis holding back a smile. He knew him too well. "I mean, it's Cinderella, and I asked Serena but you know what she's like, says she's too old for that stuff, now, so I figured that you're at the same mental age as Charlie, so why not ask you?" Harry grinned, and Louis pushed his arm.

"I'll have you know I am quite intelligent. Which is why I know you're going to pick me up at seven." Louis said, turning his nose up at Harry and looking away.

"No I'm not." Harry replied, bluntly.

"Yes, you are." Louis retorted.

"No, I'm really not. The show starts at half past six." Harry grinned, and Louis turned red.

"Yeah, well, I'll let you pick me up at six."

Harry chuckled, "It's a date, then!" He said, not thinking. "I mean, well, not a date, 'cause, you know, you're a guy and I'm your best mate and everything, so, I don't know why I said that, but, whatever, I'll see you tonight." He said, deciding that the best thing to do was to just put an end to the conversation right now, turning and walking into the grotto.

He didn't know what was going on in his head. Why did he say that?

Actually, that wasn't even the problem. Why did he go all flustered and awkward after he'd said it? He must have looked like a right bumbling idiot, and comments like that had never bothered Harry before - he'd said far more provocative stuff to Louis in the past, he had done to all his mates. But he'd noticed it had been happening a lot more over the past couple of months, and he genuinely had no idea why.

 

(It happened again, later that night at the pantomime.

After the show, Charlie was walking in the middle of Louis and Harry, holding both of their hands, when an elderly lady made a passing comment to them on how it warms her heart to see two men in love with a child, and it made her proud to see how society was becoming more accepting.

Louis just smiled and said thank you, but Harry, once again, become all flustered.

"Oh, what? No, we're not a couple. I'm not gay, he's just my best mate. No, no, no, just mates." He had said, and he regretted it as soon as he saw the embarrassed expression on the woman's face.

And he regretted it even more when he spoke to Louis in the car on the ride home, and Louis told him that he felt hurt that Harry seemed ashamed to be mistaken as in a relationship with him. Harry tried to explain that it wasn't that, because it  _wasn't._  He just... he didn't know what it was.

Louis seemed to forgive him,  _thankfully_ , and there was no awkwardness when Harry leaned in to hug Louis goodnight as he got out of the car.

 _Seriously, what the hell is wrong with me?_   Harry thought to himself).

 

**December 23 2014**

_Harry_

 

Harry wanted to make sure that Louis was definitely alright with him. He knew that he messed up, last night, and even though Louis seemed to be alright with him, he still wasn't alright with himself. There was no need for his response, it was completely unnecessary, but he just couldn't figure out why he was acting the way that he was. He hated it, he was getting wound up and frustrated with himself, because no matter how many times he tried to find the reason in his head, he just couldn't. He couldn't figure it out, he couldn't understand.

He needed to make sure that Louis was still his friend. And since he knew that Louis was working, he figured that he might as well surprise him at work, once again. He even wore his hair up in a bun, since he knew that Louis liked that. He just wanted to make him happy, he hated knowing that he'd upset Louis. That was the last thing that he wanted to do. He was his best mate and he never wanted Louis to be hurt by anyone, never mind him. He just couldn't believe that he reacted the way that he did, because it was just so not like him. He didn't know why he turned like that, but he truly regretted it.

"Why do we have to come and see Santa again, dad? We saw him yesterday!" Charlie whined, as they were stood in the queue for Santa's grotto.

Harry didn't think that Charlie would ask him that question - he didn't have an answer prepared. But he couldn't say that it was just simply so that he could see Louis. "Um, because... You know how daddy has Santa's private phone number, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, Santa phoned me last night before you went to bed. And he... he asked me to bring you here again, today, so that he could.. see if you'd been playing any more tricks on me." God, Harry should get some kind of award for being able to improvise so well. That was definitely a skill that he only developed when he became a father, that was for sure.

"Riiiiiight." Charlie said, turning away from Harry and looking towards the door of Santa's grotto.

It was only a couple of minutes later when Louis poked his head out of the door, ready to welcome in the next family. Charlie grinned as soon as he saw Louis, and ran straight towards him. Louis looked delighted to see him, bending down and scooping Charlie up into his arms and lifting him up.

"Well if it isn't my favourite little man! What are you doing here again?" Louis asked, a big smile on his face.

"Santa phoned daddy last night and said he wanted to know if I've been tricking him some more." Charlie said, innocently. Louis glanced towards Harry and arched an eyebrow, wanting to know the real reason.

"Right, and I'm sure you haven't, right? Not after our little talk yesterday, surely?"

"Of course not!" Charlie bellowed, and Louis smiled.

"Good. Right, well, since you've been good, why don't you go and get one of the candy canes from that box, over there, where Ellie is." Louis put Charlie down, pointing to the direction that Ellie is standing in. Charlie bounced over to where Ellie was, and Louis turned to look to Harry. "And the real reason?"

Harry pouted his lips a little. Whilst he might have been good at... withholding the truth from Charlie, he couldn't do it when it came to Louis. "I just wanted to make sure that we're okay. After last night." Harry mumbled.

Louis tilted his head to the side. "Haz, love, I told you, it's fine."

"No, it's not." Harry insisted. "I was rude. Unnecessarily rude. I didn't need to react the way that I did - I had no idea why I even reacted like that? You didn't, so why did I have to go like that? I just don't know why I did, and no matter how hard I try to justify being the way I was, I just can't do it. And I know that I hurt you, acting like that."

"Yeah, I'll be honest, you did." Louis muttered.

"But I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I know you must think that I'm a bad friend, you know that I would never, ever, be ashamed of being with you, in any way, but that's just... I'm so sorry, Lou." Harry pleaded, desperately wanting Louis' forgiveness.

Louis just smiled at him. "Haz, you're my best friend and I love you. It's going to take more than you getting a little freaked out because an old woman thought you were gay to get rid of me, okay?"

Harry let out a sigh of relief, a huge smile spreading on his face. He threw himself towards Louis, wrapping his arms around him and silently thanking him for his forgiveness. It wasn't until Charlie ran across to them and repeatedly poked both of their legs that the two realised they'd been standing in front of everyone, hugging. They pulled apart, and Harry felt his cheeks burning up a little - before he noticed that Louis' cheeks were red, too - under the rosy red circles that had already been face painted onto him.

"Right, uh, time for Santa?" Louis asked, and Charlie smiled and nodded, the three of them walking into Santa's grotto.

"Okay, Santa, I've not been playing any more tricks on daddy." Charlie said, instantly, and the man dressed as Santa looked pretty confused.

"Oh, well, then, that's good to know, little boy. Now, tell me, what's your name?" The guy asked. And Harry and Louis both froze on the spot. Charlie was a smart boy, even for his age. Nothing really got past him, and a comment like that was something he would definitely pick up on.

"You don't remember me? Santa, how can you not remember me? You were on the phone to my dad  _last night!_ ", Charlie stressed, his hands held up to the side of him, clearly confused as to why Santa didn't know who he was.

Harry had no idea what to do, he didn't know, exactly, how to intervene and make the save. But thankfully for him, Louis was there. "Charlie, bud, you need to remember that Santa's pretty old. Losing his mind, he is." Louis said. Charlie turned around to look at him, and Louis pulled his face and brought his hand to his head, gesturing that Santa has lost his mind. Charlie just giggled.

"Oh, Santa, you're so silly." Charlie laughed, walking up to Santa and giving him a hug.

And Harry did the same to Louis, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him in close. "Don't know what I'd do without you, Lou." He whispered. Louis didn't say anything back to him, he just smiled, and Harry saw him glance to the floor and then back up to Charlie.

Harry really didn't know what he would do without Louis.

 

**December 24 2014**

_Harry_

 

It was Christmas Eve, and Harry realised that he'd forgotten to give Louis his Christmas and Birthday present, because he's an idiot like that. It was only when he was sorting out all of Charlie's presents last night that he realised that Louis' had gotten mixed up in with his sons. He'd given everyone else their presents, but it just completely slipped his mind that he never gave Louis his present.

So, here they were - another day in the lead up to Christmas, waiting to see Santa. It was the only way Harry knew, for sure, that he'd be able to get to see Louis to give him his present. Charlie didn't mind, because he had a present he wanted to give Louis, himself - he'd saved up his treat money that Nana Anne gave him every week and had asked Harry if he could buy Louis a present. He'd bought him a Peter Pan mug and teddy combination from the Disney Store, because he thought that Peter Pan looked just like Louis. Harry had to agree.

Harry was positive that Louis wouldn't like his present as much as he'd like Charlie's present, though. He'd bought him the Breaking Bad DVD set, since Louis was always moaning about how he wanted to watch it, but never got around to doing so. Harry figured that if he bought him the boxset, he wouldn't have any excuse and he would have to watch it. It was nothing special, but he just had no idea what to get him, and he wanted the perfect gift that Louis would love. And he knew that he'd like that - but still, the Peter Pan mug, with a little teddy Peter Pan was perfect for Louis. How did Charlie know what to buy for Harry's best friend better than Harry did?

Once Charlie and Harry were at the front of the queue, the girl from yesterday - Ellie, Harry thought her name was, walked over to them.

"I'd recognise a face that cute, anywhere." She said, glancing up to Harry, before looking down to Charlie. "And how are you, mate? Did you enjoy your candy cane yesterday?" She smiled, and Charlie nodded. She carefully pinched his cheek, causing Charlie to blush, before she looked back to Harry. "Visiting Santa two days in a row?"

"Uh, three, actually." Harry corrected, biting on his bottom lip, nervously. "But, uh, we're actually here to see Louis. This was just the easiest way to get to him." He chuckled.

"Ah, riiiiight. Here to see Louis." She smirked, wiggling her eyebrows. Harry was confused. "Well, they'll be finishing up in there, soon, so he'll be all yours." She giggled, and walked away. And Harry was still confused.

She was right, though. Not long after, Louis opened the door and he looked baffled when he saw Harry and Charlie, once again in line to see Santa.

"You're here again?" He asked, as Harry and Charlie walked over to him.

"We brought you presents!" Charlie said excitedly, tugging on Harry's hand to make him walk faster. Louis looked pretty shocked when Harry handed over two gift bags to Louis. In fact, he seemed pretty speechless.

"Uh... th-thanks. Thank you so much." He said, crouching down and giving Charlie a hug, before standing up and giving one to Harry, wrapping an arm around his neck. Harry pulled Louis in close, sliding his arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. "You didn't have to.."

"I know. But I wanted to." Harry said quietly, into Louis' neck.

"I didn't get you a Christmas present." Louis said, slowly pulling away, and Harry saw that he looked pretty upset that he didn't have anything to give to Harry. But Harry genuinely couldn't care less. "You know, with buying for Doris and Ernie, now, as well, I just couldn't afford. I feel bad" He seemed embarrassed to say.

But Harry had the perfect solution for the situation "And I didn't buy you a Christmas present, either. It's a birthday present... just in Christmas wrapping paper." Harry said, calmly, which eased Louis a little bit.

"Well, thank you." He smiled. "I did, however, manage to get a little something for my favourite boy in the whole entire world, though." Louis grinned, looking down to Charlie. Harry noticed that Charlie's face had lit up.

"What is it?!" He asked, his words coming out almost too fast for Harry to comprehend.

"Ahhh, well, I don't have it with me now, so you'll have to wait until I give it to you!" He smirked, and Charlie pouted his lips, playfully - something he'd picked up from Louis.

"But I got you a Peter Pan mug and daddy got you a special adult DVD!" He said, and Harry noticed Louis' eyes widen, cheeks flushing.

"An _adult DVD_?" He whispered to Harry, and Harry clicked in with what was going through Louis' head.

"Oh! Oh, oh God, no! It's Breaking Bad, I just couldn't tell Charlie what it was about! I just said it was for grown ups!" Harry laughed, and he could feel that his face was burning up. He must have been beetroot red, at this point.

Louis seemed relieved at that matter. "Oh, thank God." He laughed, which caused Harry to laugh a little bit more. "Right, well!" He said, clearing his throat. "Time to see Santa?" Louis asked, and Charlie nodded his head, smiling from ear to ear.

The three of them walked into the grotto, with Charlie quickly making his way to Santa and climbing on his lap.

"And who do we have, here?" Santa asked, smiling through the fake beard.

Louis and Harry both looked to each other, before glancing back to Charlie. He had the situation under control, however. "Wow, you really are losing your mind, Santa." He said. The fake Santa turned to look up to Louis and Harry, and Louis just used his hands to gesture that Santa should just roll with it. "It's me, Charlie! I was here yesterday!" He added.

"Oh.. oh, right, of course! You told me that you wanted a, uh..." The Santa said, and Charlie folded his arms, looking closely up to Santa.

"I didn't tell you what i wanted yesterday, that was the day before. Yesterday was because you phoned daddy, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course I remember. Silly me! Santa's getting a little bit old, you see." Santa defended, covering his mistake.

But Charlie wasn't having any of it. "Santa, what colour are your eyes?"

"They're, uh, blue." The Santa said, and Charlie shook his head.

"Yesterday they were green, like daddy's! You're not the same Santa!" Charlie cried, dropping down from Santa's knee and running to Harry. "This Santa isn't real! He's not real!" He shouted, and Harry could hear that he was on the verge of tears.

He scooped Charlie up into his arms, holding him closely. "Of course he's the real Santa, baby." He whispered, trying to calm his son down.

"But he didn't remember me! And his eyes have changed colour!" Charlie sobbed into Harry's shoulder, and Harry ran his hand up and down Charlie's back, trying to comfort him. But it just wasn't working, he couldn't calm him down.

But that was to be expected, really. Charlie's just noticed the one thing that was out of the staff's control; their eye colour. And he wasn't going to listen to anything else. Harry looked at Louis, who seemed upset, just seeing Charlie so upset. The Santa didn't know what to do in this situation, clearly. Which wasn't very helpful. Don't they have some kind of Fake Santa training? Surely this has happened before, and not just this one time.

"Charlie, it's the real Santa." Louis said, reaching out and putting a hand on his cheek and trying to dry away his tears. But Charlie quickly pulled himself away.

"He's not real! And you're not even a real elf!" He cried even harder at this point, and Louis looked distraught. Ever since Charlie was a baby, he'd idolised Louis. Always pointed to him on the first photo that he had with Santa, and copied him when he had the green bike. Louis was always his favourite person, and now he doesn't believe in who he is. Harry could tell that it had hurt Louis. Sure, he  _wasn't_ a real elf, but it was the fact that Charlie wouldn't even let Louis comfort him, that upset him the most, Harry figured.

"Come on, sweetheart, let's go home." He whispered to Charlie. Charlie just nodded his head and dropped his face down into Harry's neck, once again. Harry walked towards the exit, looking back over to the Santa. "'M sorry. Merry Christmas." He said, smiling, as Louis opened the door and held it open for him. Harry walked through and turned back to look at Louis. "I'll, uh, call you later?" He asked.

"I finish at half three." He replied.

Harry smiled and gave Louis a small wave, but Charlie wouldn't even look at him. "Aren't you gonna say bye to Louis?" Harry asked, and Charlie shook his head, sniffling, trying his best to stop crying. Harry pouted his lips as he looked back to Louis one last time, before walking towards the nearest exit.

 

Harry did call Louis at four, and Charlie had calmed down, since then, but every time Harry mentioned Santa or Christmas, Charlie just said that he didn't believe in Santa, and that he didn't care anymore. It was like childhood depression, really. Harry had never seen a child so miserable about anything, and he'd worked with children for years and years. He didn't know what to do.

 

By half past ten, Harry was exhausted. Charlie had been fast asleep in bed since half seven. He didn't want his new Christmas Eve pyjama's on tonight, because "Christmas isn't even real". Harry sat in the living room, having already downed two glasses of wine, pouring himself a third. If he didn't obsess about making sure Louis wasn't upset with him, or making sure that Louis got his present on time, then this wouldn't be happening. Harry felt awful, because he knew that it was all his fault.

He was just about to drink his third glass, when he heard a quiet knock on the door. He sighed, and decided to just drink his wine and ignore the door. Anyone knocking on the door at this time of night was not someone that Harry wanted to deal with, obviously.

But the knocking didn't stop. It just kept going on, every couple of minutes. But he wasn't going to give in and answer the door. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now. He just wanted to wallow in his own self-pity, knowing that he had ruined Christmas for his four year old son.

And that was when the phone started ringing, and, shit, this was like the start of a horror movie. It was like Scream. And Harry was Drew Barrymore, the cute and bubbly character that get's killed in the most gruesome way. He knew all of his time at the gym would come back to haunt him - the attractive characters always die. It's just the rules of horror movies. Harry leaned over to look at his phone on the table, waiting to see 'Unknown' where the contact name or number should be.

It didn't.

It said Louis.

Harry didn't know if he should be relieved or insulted that he wasn't the prettiest character to die first in the movie.

He answered the phone. "Hello?"

_"Ah, so you are awake. Let me in, arsehole."_

"That's you at the front door?"

_"No, it's your fairy godmother! Well, actually, I kinda am your fairy godmother."_

"What?"

_"If you'd let me in, I'd be able to tell you!"_

"Alright, settle your kettle, Lou." Harry said, and then burst into laughter.

Louis didn't sound amused. _"Only you would laugh at your own lame jokes. Just open the door, it's freezing!"_ He demanded.

Harry quickly stopped laughing. "Okay, I'm coming." He said, as Louis hung up the phone.

He jumped to his feet and made his way to the front door, letting Louis in. Harry had no idea what it was that Louis wanted to tell him, or why he was here, but it seemed important. He did refer to himself as Harry's fairy godmother, after all, so it must have been somewhat important. And it was late, as well. And Louis' birthday. And Christmas Eve. It must have been really important.

 

**December 25 2014**

_Harry_

 

Louis had a plan, and Harry wasn't sure if it was going to work.  _"Just have a little faith in me, yeah, love?"_ Louis had pleaded with him the night before. So, Harry did. He had to. He had no other choice, really.

At eight in the morning, when Charlie hadn't come from his room to wake Harry up, Harry figured he'd go and disturb him, since he was probably still sleeping. He tip-toed into Charlie's room, only to see that the boy was awake. He was curled up at the bottom of his bed, reaching into the stocking. He looked distressed and panicked. Harry could see his fingers stretching out at the very bottom of the empty stocking, desperately searching for  _something._ But there was nothing.

"What's up, sweetheart?" Harry asked at the door.

"My stocking is empty!" Charlie said, pulling his hand out and letting the stocking fall to the floor.

Harry furrowed his brows, letting a puzzled expression cover his face. "Oh, that is strange."

"Where's yours? Have you got stuff in your stocking?" He asked his dad, scurrying off of the bed and across the room, towards him.

Harry nodded his head. "Yeah! I got lots of chocolate and sweets in mine! Wanna see?"

Charlie shook his head. "Why didn't I get anything?" He moaned.

Harry pouted his lips. "I don't know, buddy." He said, patting his son on his head. "Hey, why don't we go and see if we've got any presents downstairs?"

Charlie slowly lifted his head up, and looked at the smile Harry now had on his lips. "Okay." He mumbled.

Harry took his sons hand and the two of them walked out of the bedroom and downstairs, towards the living room. It was always tradition that Harry would open the door, first, to check if Santa had been. And so, that was what happened this time. Harry pushed the door open and peeked into the living room. He turned to look back to Charlie, his jaw dropped and eyes open wide.

"He's been..." He whispered, and a smile grew on Charlie's face. He sprinted past Harry and into the living room, seeing a small amount of presents under the Christmas tree. He rushed over to them, dropping to his knees, and Harry followed him.

"Who is this one for?" Charlie asked, picking up the biggest present and passing it to Harry.

Harry read the tag. "To Harry. Merry Christmas, thank you for believing. Love, Santa." He looked towards Charlie. "It's to me! From Santa!"

"What about this one?!" Charlie asked again, picking up another box and passing it to Harry.

And Harry looked at the tag, once again. "This one is also for me!" He said, excitedly.

He could see that Charlie's bottom lip had dropped, that he was getting upset. It broke his heart, seeing his son get upset. It really did. He hated it, and he hated knowing that he was pretty much the reason for upsetting him, this time. But he had to remain strong, he couldn't just break. He needed to go through with it.

"There are none for me, are there?" Charlie questioned, quietly.

Harry looked at the tags on all of the presents, shaking his head once he'd read the majority of them. "These all have my name on them."

And then the tears began to roll down Charlie's cheeks. "Why haven't I got any?" He sobbed, and Harry wanted to cry, himself, seeing his son like this. It really was horrible.

"Well, my presents all say 'thank you for believing' on them... And... oh, that's right! You said Santa wasn't real... but he only brings presents to people who believe in him!" Harry added.

Charlie sobbed even harder. "I do believe!" He cried out, but Harry just shrugged.

"But you told Santa that he wasn't real. And Louis. You told them that you don't believe in Santa." Harry said.

"But I do believe in Santa! Santa is real!" He cried, crawling over to Harry. Harry wrapped his arms around him, comforting his son.

"There, there. There's always next year. Hey, wanna help me open my presents?" Harry asked.

Charlie shook his head. "No. I wanna go to bed." He said, wiping his eyes on Harry's t-shirt.

"Okay, sweetheart. You go to bed."

Harry kissed Charlie on the head, and watched as his son walked out of the living room. Harry slowly stood up and walked to the bottom of the stairs, biting on his bottom lip as he saw Charlie move towards his bedroom door.

Louis soon approached him from the kitchen, dressed from head to toe in his elf gear. "Has it worked?" He whispered.

"DADDY!" Charlie shouted from upstairs, in the happiest tone Harry had heard since he gave Louis' his present yesterday.

Both Harry and Louis smiled. "It worked." Harry said, before running up the stairs. "What? What is it, baby?" He called as he rushed to Charlie's bedroom door.

Charlie was sat in the middle of his bedroom floor, digging through a stocking, pulling out sweets and chocolate, a massive smile on his face. Harry put on his best shocked face, and it was killing him to just not smile.

"Santa has been!" Charlie shouted, looking up to his dad. "He's been!" He repeated, going back to looking at what's in his stocking.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Harry said, walking into the room. "I bet it's because you believe in him again!"

"I do! I do believe in Santa!" He shouted, voice full of glee. It was one of the best sights Harry had seen in a long time. His son was so happy, he was over the moon.

Harry crouched down in front of him. "Do you think that, maybe... if Santa came to fill your stocking... he might have bought you some presents?" Harry whispered the last part of his sentence, and he watched as Charlie's face lit up with optimism - _maybe, just maybe, Santa had left his presents_!

Charlie jumped to his feet and sprinted straight past Harry and out of the bedroom. Harry could hear his little feet stamping down the stairs, and he chuckled to himself.

By the time Harry had reached the living room, Charlie was staring at a huge pile of presents in the middle of the living room. And it really was huge. Harry didn't realise he had bought him so many presents, this year. But, he's glad he did, because his son definitely deserved to have the best Christmas ever.

"Are they for me?" Charlie whispered, and Harry walked over to them. He picked up one of the smaller presents and read the tag.

"To Charlie, Merry Christmas. I knew you would believe in me again. Love, Santa." Harry smiled, seeing Charlie's joyful face. He didn't know how his son was containing his excitement at this moment in time. He placed the present down next to the pile. "They're all yours, Charlie!" Harry announced.

Charlie let out a little shriek of excitement, which was closely followed by a thud from under the coffee table. Shit.  _Shit._ Charlie noticed it, obviously, the boy never misses anything. He walked over to the coffee table, which was covered by a red throw, and lifted it up to see Louis curled underneath it.

"Louis?!" Charlie shouted.

Harry could see the panic in Louis' eyes, and he was sure that Louis could see the exact same thing in his eyes.

"Oh, boy, I'm in trouble!" Louis said, crawling out from under the table. He stayed on his knees and took Charlie's hands into his. "Charlie, mate, you gotta help me out here, okay?" Charlie looked perplexed, slowly nodding his head. "Santa trusted me to drop off these presents for you, without being seen. But you found me! You can't tell Santa that you saw me, okay, or he won't let me be an elf anymore!"

Charlie looked horrified - Louis was his favourite elf! What would he do if his favourite elf could no longer _be_ an elf?! "Okay! I won't tell Santa! I promise!" Charlie said, and Louis smiled.

"You're the best bud ever, Charlie!" Louis said, pulling Charlie into a hug. Charlie hugged him back for a few seconds, before Louis' let go. "Now, go and open those presents! You'll be here all day, there's that many!" Louis said, and Charlie didn't need any more prompting, running back to his presents and opening them, as Louis stood up.

Harry genuinely had no idea what he would do without Louis. Louis had honestly been his rock throughout this whole year, he was always there when he needed him. He was so glad that Zayn had made him go out on his birthday, because if he didn't, he wouldn't have met Louis again and they wouldn't have made up. And then he'd have been without his best friend. His soul mate, really. He genuinely believed that Louis  _was_ his soul mate. Like Zayn had told him a few months ago, Louis was everything he needed and wanted. And it was true.

It was true.

Louis was his everything.

Harry walked across the living room, to where Louis was standing. Louis glanced up from Charlie to look at Harry, just in time for Harry to place his hands on his cheeks and pull him in for a kiss.

He was kissing Louis. Harry was kissing Louis.

And it wasn't a passionate kiss, even though Harry had felt something inside of him that he had never felt before. But it was still one of the best kisses Harry had ever had. Just lips. But they were Louis' lips. And it was Louis.

Harry slowly pulled away from the kiss and looked down to Louis, who seemed to be in complete and utter shock.

"Harry..." He gasped, but Harry just shook his head.

"I thought that I could just be mates with you, Louis. I thought that was what I wanted. Just you and me being best mates. 'Cause, I mean, that was the only answer, right? It was the only outcome to this, I thought that was obvious. But I have never been more wrong about anything in my entire life.  I have never felt anything like this before, ever. And I didn't even realise it until today. I thought that I was losing my mind, I thought that I was going crazy. I am so in love with you, that it's insane."

Harry couldn't get any more out, because before he knew it, Louis had wrapped his arms around Harry's neck and was pulling him down into a kiss. Harry placed his hands on Louis' hips, pulling him closer, and this time, the kissing was passionate. Harry opened his mouth and Louis' tongue pushed it's way in, and Harry could taste nothing but Louis. It was wet and messy, their teeth were colliding, but it was beautiful and romantic and everything Harry could have ever imagined and more.

"Ewww, dad!" Charlie groaned, and both Harry and Louis pulled away from each other, startled, staring down to Charlie. "Kissing is gross, don't do it in front of me." He whined, before going back to opening his presents.

Harry looked back to Louis, his eyes were dark and he was biting on his lip, holding back a smirk. But Harry just laughed, and then Louis started to laugh. Harry reached out and took Louis' hand, holding it in his own.

"Will, uh, your mum mind if you spend Christmas day here?" Harry asked, knowing that Louis will be going back home, soon.

Louis shrugged his shoulders. "She'll probably gut me, stuff me and serve me for Boxing Day dinner, but..." He smirked, and Harry knew what he was going to say. "Spending time with you is worth it."

So Harry pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head. "I'm sorry for taking so long to realise." He whispered.

"That doesn't matter." Louis said, looking up to him. "We got there in the end."

How could he be so stupid not to realise that he loved Louis? Zayn even pointed it out to him two months ago! But it took until now for him to realise that it was true, that he did love Louis. Now that he thought about it, he was sure he'd loved Louis from the moment he met him, three years ago.

 

_Louis_

 

It was possibly the best Christmas day Louis had ever had. And that wasn't to take away from Christmas with his family, but the way he saw it, Harry and Charlie were his family, too, now. They had been for the past year, really. But this Christmas was just so magical. Usually, he's on the receiving end of the Christmas spirit. His mum running around like a headless chicken, making sure he and his siblings have the best Christmas - even at his age, now. But now, he was the one who helped to create the Christmas spirit for Charlie, and seeing him so happy made Louis realise why his mum went to so many extremes each and every year. There was nothing like making a child feel like Christmas really was the most wonderful time of the year, and he got that, now.

Plus, he got to snog Harry every chance he got throughout the day. What more could he ask for?

He'd phoned his mother and explained why he wasn't going to be home for the rest of the day. She was disappointed in the fact that he wasn't going to be there, but she loved Louis - and she knew that Louis loved Harry. And when Louis told her that Harry had kissed him and asked him to spend the day with him, she actually screamed with excitement for him. She told him to stay with Harry, to have a lovely day and to use protection. Which was definitely cringeworthy, no matter how close he was to his mum.

It was half eight, and Charlie had fallen asleep in the middle of a Nerf Gun war with Louis and Harry - that was Louis' present for Charlie. He'd bought him Nerf Guns, partly because Nerf Guns were his favourite when he was little, and partly because he thought it would be hilarious to see Harry suffer. And it was. Harry carried Charlie to bed and tucked him in, but the little guy was flat out - completely exhausted. But the day had been such an emotional roller coaster for him, so neither Louis or Harry were surprised.

Half way through the day, Louis had changed out of his elf costume and borrowed some of Harry's clothes - a black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and a pair of white shorts. He was laying down on the couch when Harry walked back into the living room, and Louis just couldn't take his eyes off of him. God, Harry was beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful, he was gorgeous from head to toe. He was perfect to Louis.

"Did he settle alright?" Louis asked.

"Didn't even stir." Harry said, walking to the couch where Louis lay. Louis didn't expect for Harry to drop down on top of him, and rest his head on his chest. But that was exactly what Harry did, and Louis wasn't complaining. "Thank you so much for today, Louis. Thank you for everything, really. You're the best thing to happen to me since Charlie was born."

It might have been the three glasses of wine Harry drank with Christmas dinner and the four bottles of Bud that he'd drank between dinner and now talking, but Louis didn't care. He puckered his lips up for a kiss, and Harry slowly crawled up his body so that he could kiss Louis. Louis would never tire of getting to kiss Harry, he was sure of it.

"You're the best at kissing." Louis mumbled against Harry's lips, causing Harry to smile. And Louis would love to see that smile every single day for the rest of his life.

"You know... I was thinking, I owe you big time for today. And I still owe you from years ago. With the bike. And I want to make it up to you." Harry said.

"H, you know you don't owe me anything for this, right? We're friends. Well, more than friends, now. It's just what we do. You don't need to make it up to me, at all."

But Harry shook his head, smirking. "As true as that is, I really want to make it up to you. And I think you'll like it, too." His smirk grew bigger, as he bit onto his bottom lip. Louis sort of had an idea of what Harry might have planned, but he didn't want to say anything. After all, Harry had never been with a man, before. All of his sexual experiences had been with women, so Louis didn't want to rush him into anything. "Come with me." Harry said as he pushed himself off of the sofa.

He held his hand out for Louis, and Louis took it, standing up and following Harry's lead. Harry walked them out of the living room and upstairs, taking him into his bedroom. Maybe Louis was right, after all, with what Harry had planned. Harry had lit the few candles that were in the room - probably after he had put Charlie to bed. It was perhaps the most romantic thing that someone had done for Louis - even if they ended up just sitting in bed and watching TV, or reading a book or something.

"Harry, what's this?" Louis asked, looking around the room.

"This is for us... I want us to... you know." Harry said, scratching the back of his neck, blushing.

"What? Do the crossword puzzle?"

"Nah, I did that already." Harry shrugged.

Louis laughed, shaking his head. "You're such a knob." He smirked.

"Sorry." Harry pouted.

Louis laughed again. "But I wouldn't have you any other way." Harry's pout faded, a small, humble, smile spreading across his face. "So, Harry... were you going to ask if you could fuck me?"

Harry's face turned an even darker shade of red, and Louis couldn't help but be turned on. Harry slowly nodded his head, biting his lip.

He and Louis looked at each other for a few seconds, until Harry rushed over to Louis, scooping him off of his feet and dropping him down on the bed. Harry lay on top of Louis, passionately kissing him. It was a wet mess of lips and tongue and teeth, but it felt amazing. Louis didn't want to waste much time, though. He'd spend years fantasising and dreaming about this, and he truly never thought that it would happen. But it was, he was finally getting what he wanted. He tugged on the back of Harry's t-shirt, desperately trying to pull it off of him. It only took a brief struggle and a little bit of assistance from Harry, he got it off.

And before he knew it, Harry was yanking the top off of Louis' back, tossing it across the room. He sat himself up, his knees on either side of Louis' body, and began to unbuckle his belt, furiously. Louis bit his lip, watching him, and he could see the outline of Harry's cock through his skin tight jeans. And  _fuck,_ he was huge. Louis always thought that he had a pretty big cock, but now that he has Harry's in front of him, he definitely knows what a big cock looks like.

Harry was a fumbling mess, fine motor skills not working for him. Louis stepped in and took over, unbuckling his belt for him and pulling down his jeans to his thighs. And God, he wanted Harry so badly. Louis propped himself up on his elbows and leaned forward, wrapping his lips around Harry's shaft through his underwear, teasing Harry. It was definitely surreal.

"Lou, please..." Harry groaned, a low, deep tone of voice that Louis had never heard before. And he definitely didn't need to be asked twice. Louis pulled down Harry's briefs, letting his hard cock bounce out, already dripping with pre-cum.

"Fuck." Louis breathed out, in shock, at the sight of Harry's cock in front of him. Louis raised his hands up to Harry's hips, before using all the strength in his body to push Harry off of him and to the side, onto his back on the bed. Louis smirked as he sat up, pulling Harry's jeans and pants off of his legs, completely. He got onto his knees on the bedroom floor and wrapped a hand around the base of Harry's cock, slowly pumping him up and down. Harry let out a low moan, and, fuck, Louis couldn't keep his mouth away from him anymore. He ducked his head down and wrapped his mouth around Harry's head, and he was sure that Harry practically purred.

He began to bob his head up and down, sucking and licking at Harry's cock, pumping and twisting his hand around the lower half of Harry's cock, which he couldn't get into his mouth without force. Harry moved his hand down to Louis, twisting it in his hair and assisting him as he bobbed up and down. And fuck, Louis noticed Harry had been showing a few dominant traits since they started, and it was definitely something Louis wanted to explore in the future, because it was so hot.

Louis removed his hand from Harry's shaft, so he could take more of Harry's cock into his mouth. He slid further down until Harry's head it the back of his throat, and the little gasps and moans that escaped from Harry's lips definitely encouraged Louis to take more. He pushed himself further down, feeling Harry's hand trying to push, but Harry holding him back, until Harry's cock was sliding down his throat. And fuck Louis had definitely never had a cock so big stuffed down his throat, before. He was loving every second of it.

"Lou, Lou, stop." Harry moaned out, bringing his spare hand up to tug on his own hair.

Louis slowly lifted himself off of Harry's cock, Harry groaning when he saw a trail of spit down Louis' chin. "What's up, babe?" Louis asked, voice rough and hoarse.

Harry shook his head, biting his lip. "Was gonna... I don't wanna cum just yet." Harry breathed out, and Louis smirked, knowing that he was doing a good job. "Wanna fuck you first." He said, and, oh shit, Louis just loved the way Harry said that, so casually, like it was no big deal.

"Do you have lube?" Louis asked, panicking. "I mean, if you don't, you should be alright just using your mouth or - I dunno, it should be oka-"

"I've got lube." Harry said, and Louis let out a sigh of relief that he didn't even realise he was holding in.

"Oh thank fuck." He laughed, before crawling up onto the bed, next to Harry. Harry leaned in and pressed a kiss to Louis' lips, which definitely surprised Louis, considering his lips had just been wrapped firmly around Harry's cock.

Harry pulled away from Louis, smiling, before sitting up and reaching into the bedside table. He pulled out a small bottle of lube and a condom, chucking them onto the bed. He crawled got onto his knees in the space between Louis' legs, and rubbed his hands down Louis' thighs. Louis let out a small moan, and then an even bigger one when he felt Harry's hand wrap around his dick, loosely stroking him a few times.

"You okay, love?" Louis asked. Sure, Harry loved him, and he was okay getting his cock sucked, but now he was touching another man's cock, about to fuck him, and Louis didn't want him to feel pressured. "If you don't to, it's fine."

"Lou, I wanna. I'm okay... do you not want me to?" Harry asked.

"What? Fuck, no! I mean, yes, I want you to! I've wanted this since I first saw you." Louis admitted, and Harry's grip on his cock tightened just a little bit.

"Oh, yeah? Guess I better not disappoint, then." Harry smirked, before bending over and licking a bead of pre-cum from the tip of Louis' cock, causing the younger boy to let out a loud moan. He looked down to Harry, seeing him smirk, probably knowing that he's got Louis wrapped around his little finger.

Harry let go of Louis' cock and ducked down, looking to Louis' arsehole. He gently pressed a dry finger to his rim, teasing him. Louis bit his lip, holding back his moans, and before he knew it, he felt Harry's tongue licking in circular motions around his rim.

"Oh fuck, Haz. _Fuck_!" Louis moaned, hands clutching to the bed sheets.

Harry lifted his head up to look at Louis. "Saw that in a porno, once. Always wanted to try it. Think I could have a lot of fun doing that in the future." He smirked, before picking up the bottle of lube. He coated his fingers with it, before bringing his finger down to Louis' arsehole. He gently moved his finger around the rim, before pushing into Louis' hole, his finger sliding straight in to the second knuckle, causing a sharp shriek to fall from Louis' mouth. Harry froze, his finger staying inside of Louis. "Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't think it'd go in that quickly!" He panicked.

"It's fine. Just... fuck, that felt good." Louis let out a deep breath, and he felt Harry relax just a little bit. He slowly started to move his finger around in a circular motion.

"Is that good?" He asked, and Louis just let out a moan and nodded, hoping that Harry took that as a sign to keep going. And he did, he started to push his finger in a little deeper, before pulling it out, and then pushing it back in, once again. He repeated it over and over, until Louis couldn't take it anymore.

"More. I need more, love." He moaned out, and Harry slowly slid his finger out of Louis' arsehole, causing Louis to groan at the loss. "That's not more, Haz." He whined, until he felt Harry slide two fingers inside of him. And holy shit, that felt good. It felt even better when he began to pump his long fingers in and out, slowly spreading them apart on the inside of him. Louis felt so good, he felt amazing. Harry's fingers, inside of him, felt so good.

And when Harry took it upon himself to add a third finger, Louis could take it. He tugged on the bed sheets, his grip nearly strong enough to tear them apart, letting out moans and groans that he didn't even realise were escaping from his mouth.

"Haz, need you in me. Need you.." He moaned out, breathing heavily, gasping. "Need you to fuck me. Fuck me hard. Wreck me." He moaned, eyes closed.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, gently.

"Fuck me, Harry. _Fuck me_!" Louis demanded, and Harry didn't need for Louis to tell him again. He slowly pulled his fingers out of Louis, and Louis let out a small whimper. Harry picked up the condom from beside him and tore it open with his teeth, since his fingers were to slippy. He pinched the tip and rolled the condom onto his cock, before slicking himself up with more lube.

Louis could hear Harry take a deep breath, getting himself ready. He felt the tip of Harry's cock line up with his rim, before he slowly pushed inside, stretching him wider than he had been with Harry's fingers. Louis bit his lip, feeling the burn of his body stretching as more and more of Harry's cock filled him up.

"Oh God, oh God." Louis moaned, quietly, until he felt Harry's balls pressing against him, knowing that Harry's entire cock was inside of him. "Fuck, Haz."

"You feel so good, Lou. So good for me. So tight." Harry moaned, before slowly sliding out and thrusting himself further inside, once again. Harry moaned as he began to thrust in and out, picking up a rhythm and finding the right pace. And fuck, Louis lost it with every single thrust, feeling Harry get closer to the spot. He wrapped his hand around his own cock and furiously began to jerk himself off, finding the same rhythm as Harry fucked him in.

Their moans got mixed together, Louis lost track of what were his moans and what were Harry's, but he didn't care anymore. All he cared about was the fact that Harry was in love with him, and here he was, fucking him senseless. Harry picked up the pace, fucking harder, and before Louis knew it, Louis let out a loud shout, cumming all over his stomach and chest, moaning Harry's name as he hit his prostate.

"Fuck!" Harry shouted, watching Louis' cum, hearing Louis call out his name as he did so, and it only took a few more thrusts for Harry to shoot his load, filling the condom, with a loud groan of his own. He slowed his pace down, fucking Louis through the after shocks, until they both came down from their high.

Harry pulled out of Louis, removing the condom and dropping it to the bedroom floor, and collapsed onto the bed next to him, their hot, sweaty, sticky bodies only touching by their arms.

"That was.." Louis started, but Harry cut him off.

"Amazing." Harry finished for Louis, and Louis was so relieved that Harry enjoyed it. Sure, he might have been in love with Louis, but if he didn't like the sex with him, it could have changed the whole dynamic of their relationship - whatever their relationship was, at this point.

"I love you, Harry. Have done since I was eighteen." Louis said, sleepily.

"I didn't know it back then, but I think I loved you, too. I know for sure that I love you, now." Harry replied.

Louis had never been happier.


End file.
